Abstract
A vast stream of empirical work has revealed that coach and athlete leadership are important determinants of sport teams’ functioning and performance. Although coaches have a direct impact on individual and team outcomes, they should also strive to stimulate athletes to take up leadership roles in a qualitative manner. Yet, the relation between coach leadership behavior and the extent of high-quality athlete leadership within teams remains underexposed. Based on organizational justice theory and the social identity approach, the present research tested whether perceived justice of the coach positively predicts the quality of athlete leadership. Furthermore, we examined the role of group dynamic processes (i.e., team identification and task cohesion) within this relation. Belgian volleyball (N = 161) and basketball players (N = 78) were asked to rate the justice of their coach, their team identification, the task cohesion, and the athlete leadership quality in the team. Structural equation modeling indicated that coaches’ perceived justice positively predicted the quality of athletes’ leadership, and that this relation was established through three intermediate steps (i.e., from team identification to task cohesion, to athlete leadership quality). These results suggest that fair coach behavior does not only bridge the gap between leadership and followership, it also has the potential to improve the quality of athletes’ leadership within sport teams. More specifically, findings suggest that coaches’ perceived justice cultivates a shared social identity characterized by high levels of players’ identification with their team, which in turn increased their perceptions of the team’s task cohesion. Finally, this increased task cohesion encouraged the athlete leaders to demonstrate high-quality leadership.
Highlights
Bringing talented players together is only the first step toward success in team sport competition
Our hypothesized model was grounded on the organizational justice theory, and on the social identity approach (SIA; Haslam, 2004). This theory, which distinguishes between a personal identity and a social identity, explains how the perceived fairness of the coach fosters athletes’ social identity, which in turn is positively linked to increased levels of task cohesion on the team
Some studies have demonstrated the positive link between athlete leaders and team functioning and performance in sport teams (Fransen et al, 2015a; Mertens et al, 2018)
Summary
Bringing talented players together is only the first step toward success in team sport competition. De Backer et al (2011, 2015) already referred to the importance of the perceived justice of the coach for shaping team identification and cohesiveness within the team We assume that such positive group dynamics are key conditions to foster high qualitative athlete leadership. Research on justice in sport did support a positive link between the perception of fair coach behavior and athletes’ team identification and team cohesion (De Backer et al, 2011, 2015). Our hypothesized model was grounded on the organizational justice theory, and on the social identity approach (SIA; Haslam, 2004) This theory, which distinguishes between a personal identity and a social identity, explains how the perceived fairness of the coach fosters athletes’ social identity, which in turn is positively linked to increased levels of task cohesion on the team. All hypotheses were combined into one comprehensive research model (Figure 1)
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