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Match or Mismatch? The Influence of Athletes’ Leadership Style Preferences on Perceived Coaching Effectiveness in Sports Cover

Match or Mismatch? The Influence of Athletes’ Leadership Style Preferences on Perceived Coaching Effectiveness in Sports

Open Access
|Mar 2026

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

Research framework diagram.

Figure 2

Interaction between implicit attitude and autocratic behavior on leadership effectiveness.

Democratic and autocratic implicit association test_

Task stageE keyI key
IAT implementation stepsStep 1Initial concept discrimination taskDemocratic wordsAutocratic words
Step 2Attribute discrimination taskPositive wordsNegative words
Step 3Initial combined taskDemocratic/positiveAutocratic/negative
Step 4Reversed concept discrimination taskAutocratic wordsDemocratic words
Step 5Reversed combined taskAutocratic/positiveDemocratic/negative

Summary of independent sample t-test on leadership effectiveness by autocratic behavior group_

Dimension nameAutocratic behavior group M SD T p
SatisfactionLow4.270.502.77*0.007
High3.930.55
CohesionLow4.290.440.780.425
High4.200.57
PerformanceLow3.330.67−0.320.744
High3.380.75

Primary and secondary vocabulary concepts for democratic and autocratic leadership behaviors_

Democratic leadership behaviorAutocratic leadership behavior
Primary positive conceptExamples of secondary positive conceptsPrimary negative conceptExamples of secondary negative conceptsPrimary positive conceptExamples of secondary positive conceptsPrimary negative conceptExamples of secondary negative concepts
Freedom Open-minded Conflict Divergence OppositionAutocraticConcentratedDislikeAnnoyed
Flexible Argument UnifiedRebellious
Restrained Traditional
Unity Strong cohesion Stress Tedious Fast decision-makingHigh performance EfficiencyPainful Wronged
Cooperation Time-consuming Restriction Proactive Sad
Sense of oppression Repressed
Joy Happy IndulgentUndisciplinedRestrainedRigorousClosed-offUncommunicative
Likable Boisterous Slack CautiousOutdated
Interesting Lively Clear goals Rigid
Old-fashioned
EqualityFairBad attitudeArrogantSystemOrganizedCorporal punishmentScolding
Respect Irresponsible Indifferent High cohesion Rough
ResponsibilityStrong self-controlConfused Aimless FocusedSeriousArbitrary Hegemony
Autonomy Healthy competition Unregulated Disorderly DedicatedIndecisive
Stubborn
Passive
Harmony Kind ConservativeUnchanging Well-organized management
Trusting
Friendly
Positive Communication Opinion flow
Opinion acceptance Encourage

Summary of multiple regression analysis of coach leadership behavior on the coach–athlete relationship_

Dependent variableIndependent variablesRaw score regression coefficientStandardized regression coefficient t p
Coach–athlete relationshipDemocratic leadership behavior0.3610.1522.384*0.020
Autocratic leadership behavior−0.0280.140−0.2000.842
Athlete preference (implicit attitude)0.0040.0410.0970.923
Athlete preference × democratic leadership behavior (interaction)−0.0190.089−0.2160.829
Athlete preference × autocratic leadership behavior (interaction)−0.0370.086−0.4270.671

Descriptive statistics of participant demographics_

Background variablesItemNumber of participants%
GenderMale6777.9
Female1921.1
Participation in the national intercollegiate athletic gamesYes7384.9
No1315.1
Advancement to the finals of the national intercollegiate athletic gamesYes3743.0
No4957.0

Summary of correlation analysis among coach leadership behavior, coach–athlete relationship, and leadership effectiveness_

123456789
2−0.277*
30.684*−0.342*
40.629*−0.258*0.898*
50.515*−0.310*0.803*0.582*
60.576*−0.310*0.824*0.609*0.511*
70.607*−0.216*0.654*0.534*0.548*0.590*
80.509*−0.403*0.658*0.527*0.650*0.513*0.780*
90.545*−0.1450.414*0.313*0.340*0.413*0.779*0.484*
100.289*0.0080.433*0.392*0.294*0.405*0.661*0.363*0.141*

Summary of multiple regression analysis of coach leadership behavior on leadership effectiveness_

Dependent variableIndependent variablesRaw score unstandardized regression coefficientStandardized regression coefficient t p
Leadership effectivenessDemocratic leadership behavior0.3560.8622.800*0.006
Autocratic leadership behavior0.2210.5351.8870.063
Athlete preference (implicit attitude)−0.090−0.218−2.598*0.011
Athlete preference × democratic leadership behavior (interaction)−0.059−0.240−0.7940.430
Athlete preference × autocratic leadership behavior (interaction)−0.155−0.594−2.143*0.035
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pcssr-2026-0006 | Journal eISSN: 1899-4849 | Journal ISSN: 2081-2221
Language: English
Page range: 68 - 82
Submitted on: Nov 10, 2025
|
Accepted on: Dec 17, 2025
|
Published on: Mar 25, 2026
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: Volume open

© 2026 Chin-Wei Lin, Bo-Hao Lai, Su-Shiang Lee, I-Yu Tsai, Yu-Sheng Lin, published by University of Physical Education in Warsaw
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.