Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1986

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major Professor

Patricia A. Beitel

Committee Members

Dennie Kelley, Joy DeSensi

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if difference in satisfaction with coaching leadership existed between female-coached and male-coached female NCAA Division I intercollegiate basketball athletes. Both groups of coaches were similar in demographic traits and in leadership style components as evaluated based on the Least Preferred Co-work Scale (Fiedler, 1976). Ten athletes from each of five male-coached and five female-coached teams were the subjects (N = 100). Athlete satisfaction with coaching leadership was measured in three ways using the Leadership Scale for Sports (Chelladurai & Saleh, 1978): (a) quantified discrepancy between the leadership behaviors an athlete desires her coach to use, and the behaviors actually employed by her coach, fb) specific satisfaction with leadership behaviors, and (c) general satisfaction with overall coaching leader ship. Chelladurai (1980) and Chelladurai and Saleh's (1978) five dimensions of leadership behavior were examined: (a) training and instruction, (b) democratic behavior, (c) autocratic behavior, (d) social support, and (e) rewarding behavior. The two multivariate analyses on discrepancy scores and specific satisfaction scores and the univariate analysis on general satisfaction produced significant coach ing gender effects. The resulting univariate analyses revealed significant coaching gender effects on: (a) the rewarding behavior dimension for both the discrepancy and the specific satisfaction; and (b) specific satisfaction in the dimensions of training and instruction, democratic behavior, autocratic behavior, and social support. All significant results indicated that female-coached female basketball players were more satisfied with the leadership behavior of their coaches than were male-coached female basketball players.

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