Authentic leadership in sport: Its relationship with athletes’ enjoyment and commitment and the mediating role of autonomy and trust

Abstract

Consequences of leadership styles have become a noteworthy area of research for sport psychology researchers. However, there is scant research on the concept of authentic leadership. To date, research in sport has demonstrated that authentic leadership is associated with positive outcomes for athletes such as satisfaction, commitment, trust and perceptions of choice. In this study, we examined whether athletes’ perceptions of coach authentic leadership were associated with their commitment and enjoyment and whether trust in coach and perceived autonomy mediated these relationships. Participants were 435 athletes (female = 211) from team (e.g. football, hockey; n = 338) and individual sports (e.g. boxing, swimming; n = 97) who completed questionnaires about perceived authentic leadership of their coach, perceived autonomy and trust in their coach and their enjoyment and commitment. Structural equation modelling revealed that athletes’ perceptions of their coach authentic leadership were positively related to their enjoyment and commitment and these relationships were mediated by perceived autonomy and trust. The findings suggest that authentic leadership in coaches may facilitate enjoyment and commitment in athletes, and this may occur via autonomy and trust.