Narcissism and coach interpersonal style: A self-determination theory perspective

Athletes’ sport experiences are often influenced by the interpersonal styles of communication used by their coaches. Research on personality antecedents of such styles is scarce. We examined the link between a well-researched personality trait, namely narcissism, and two types of coaching interperso...

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Main Authors: Matosic, D., Ntoumanis, N., Boardley, I., Sedikides, C., Stewart, B., Chatzisarantis, Nikos
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/13772
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author Matosic, D.
Ntoumanis, N.
Boardley, I.
Sedikides, C.
Stewart, B.
Chatzisarantis, Nikos
author_facet Matosic, D.
Ntoumanis, N.
Boardley, I.
Sedikides, C.
Stewart, B.
Chatzisarantis, Nikos
author_sort Matosic, D.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Athletes’ sport experiences are often influenced by the interpersonal styles of communication used by their coaches. Research on personality antecedents of such styles is scarce. We examined the link between a well-researched personality trait, namely narcissism, and two types of coaching interpersonal style, namely autonomy-supportive and controlling styles. We also tested the mediating roles of dominance and empathic concern in explaining the relations between narcissism and the two coaching interpersonal styles. United Kingdom-based coaches (N = 211) from various sports completed a multi-section questionnaire assessing the study variables. Regression analyses revealed a positive direct relation between narcissism and controlling coach behaviors. Furthermore, empathy (but not dominance) mediated the positive and negative indirect effects of narcissism on controlling and autonomy-supported interpersonal styles, respectively. We discuss these findings in terms of their implications for coaching and the quality of athletes’ sport experiences.
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publishDate 2015
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-137722017-09-13T15:35:58Z Narcissism and coach interpersonal style: A self-determination theory perspective Matosic, D. Ntoumanis, N. Boardley, I. Sedikides, C. Stewart, B. Chatzisarantis, Nikos Athletes’ sport experiences are often influenced by the interpersonal styles of communication used by their coaches. Research on personality antecedents of such styles is scarce. We examined the link between a well-researched personality trait, namely narcissism, and two types of coaching interpersonal style, namely autonomy-supportive and controlling styles. We also tested the mediating roles of dominance and empathic concern in explaining the relations between narcissism and the two coaching interpersonal styles. United Kingdom-based coaches (N = 211) from various sports completed a multi-section questionnaire assessing the study variables. Regression analyses revealed a positive direct relation between narcissism and controlling coach behaviors. Furthermore, empathy (but not dominance) mediated the positive and negative indirect effects of narcissism on controlling and autonomy-supported interpersonal styles, respectively. We discuss these findings in terms of their implications for coaching and the quality of athletes’ sport experiences. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/13772 10.1111/sms.12635 fulltext
spellingShingle Matosic, D.
Ntoumanis, N.
Boardley, I.
Sedikides, C.
Stewart, B.
Chatzisarantis, Nikos
Narcissism and coach interpersonal style: A self-determination theory perspective
title Narcissism and coach interpersonal style: A self-determination theory perspective
title_full Narcissism and coach interpersonal style: A self-determination theory perspective
title_fullStr Narcissism and coach interpersonal style: A self-determination theory perspective
title_full_unstemmed Narcissism and coach interpersonal style: A self-determination theory perspective
title_short Narcissism and coach interpersonal style: A self-determination theory perspective
title_sort narcissism and coach interpersonal style: a self-determination theory perspective
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/13772