A social identity theory of leadership applied to sports coaching

Abstract

People naturally classify themselves and others into social categories or groups in order to make sense of the world. Group life affects how we engage with others, such that our social identities (group memberships) form a lens through which we evaluate our own and others' behaviours. From exploring the minimal conditions for group discrimination, to understanding how group memberships enable individuals to achieve positive self esteem, the social identity tradition has been a dominant force in general social psychology. Only recently have researchers begun to explore social identity principles in sport and exercise settings. A gap exists in the sport coaching leadership literature, calling for a model of leadership that accurately encompasses the complex social dynamic that is the sport coaching leadership process. A recent systematic review of the sports coaching leadership literature (Vella, Oades, and Crowe, 2010) revised and presented a new definition of sport coaching leadership. It illustrated the existing gap between the current understanding of sport coaching leadership and the complex social process that is leadership in sport coaching. I directed my research at building upon Vella et ai's conclusions and investigating the existing gap through the application of a social identity leadership model to sport coaching. Coaching leadership is a complex social process. It is possible that coaches with a deep understanding of their team 's social identity, and how to leverage this knowledge within the context of their team, may prove to be more effective leaders.

This research applied a social identity leadership perspective to the sport-coaching domain . The overarching research question "Does a relationship(s) exist between perceived social identity levels and sport coaching leadership effectiveness within the team sport domain?" surrounds the group-level leadership process inherently present within the team sport-coaching context, which in turn gives way to a number of more discrete foci summing the overall objectives of this research. As this line of investigation was novel within the research domain and thus would contribute most effectively through base line analysis from which future research could build upon, it was clear that quantitative methodology would be the most appropriate manner of exploring issues pertinent to the major research question.

Three quantitative studies were conducted in a staged process using a number of athlete and coach data samples to a) develop a measure of social identity for the sport coaching domain (n = 271 ); b) confirm the measure factor structures using separate purposive data (n = 351) and to examine the relationships between social identity (team and coach), sport motivation, sport confidence and coaching competence; and c) assess social identity. regards to athlete evaluations of coaches across a large data sample (n = 622). Performance team sport athletes (N = 622) above the age of 18 from a range of different sports (n = 18; soccer, Gaelic football, hurling, camogie, golf, field hockey, tennis, fencing, track, swimming, rugby, netball, volleyball, basketball, American football, lacrosse, baseball, softball), talent levels (recreational, club, collegiate, provincial, International, professional) and countries (Ireland, UK, USA, New Zealand) participated in this research. Factor analysis, structural equation modelling, reliability analysis, internal consistency testing, and mediation analysis techniques were used to identify, assess and compare measures within all data samples in order to present valid and reliable findings.

The current research demonstrated that a social identity theory of leadership can be applied to the sport coaching field and furthermore, that high coach and team social identity is positively related to coaching performance outcomes such as sport motivation, sport confidence, coaching competency and coach evaluations. The large participant ‘sports team performance’ sample and the representative wide range of sport cultures, sports and athlete skill level, served to inform a wider sport-coaching domain. Implications for future research are discussed and research limitations are presented. There is a need to develop a sport-oriented framework, adapted and logically formulated from general psychological theories and related literature, to study sport-specific issues in leadership such as coaching performance. The social identity leadership approach provides a starting point for research that can, in turn, provide novel corroborations or identity falsifications to extend and/or tighten the model.

Date of Award	May 2014
Original language	English
Supervisor	Tony Cassidy (Supervisor), Gavin Breslin (Supervisor) & Maurice Stringer (Supervisor)