By adopting an “authentic leadership” style, coaches can protect athletes from psychological illnesses, such as depression or anxiety.
- Authentic leadership is based on the ability to act in accordance with one’s aspirations, values and the image conveyed to others.
- By seeing their coach share information, demonstrate understanding, act ethically, and listen, athletes felt happier and handled problems more easily.
- In addition, athletes were less likely to be stressed, anxious or present depressive symptoms.
With less than five months until the Summer Olympics in Paris, athletes are preparing physically and psychologically. Recently, researchers at the University of Birmingham (England) revealed that those coached by people displaying the qualities of an “authentic leader” were more mentally fit. In order to reach this conclusion, they conducted a study, the results of which were published in the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise.
Athletes felt happier thanks to “authentic leadership”
“Previous research attests to the prevalence of psychological disorders in sport and the need to identify factors likely to promote the mental health of athletes,” the scientists reported. To carry out their work, they examined whether authentic leadership is directly and indirectly associated with athletes’ mental health via psychological capital and the prosocial and antisocial behavior experienced by teammates. As a reminder, an authentic leader creates a climate of trust by showing that he is transparent and that he always acts consistently with his words. In addition, he has sincere connections with people and builds long-term relationships with them.
As part of the study, 751 athletes from various disciplines completed an online questionnaire about their mental health and the way their coach trains them. Results showed that when athletes perceived that their coach engaged in behaviors, such as sharing information openly, demonstrating understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, acting ethically, and listening to alternative points of view, they felt happier and dealt with problems more easily. Through authentic leadership, athletes were also less likely to act aggressively toward their competitors. It can also increase enjoyment and engagement, two essential qualities in sport, as they can influence athletes’ continued participation, which tends to decline as participants age.
Depression, stress, anxiety: a reduction in mental disorders among high-level athletes
The authors also observed that the indirect effect of authentic leadership on the mental health of athletes, by encouraging their teammates to act in a more prosocial manner towards them (for example by encouraging them, supporting them, giving them positive comments, praising them for their good play), was stronger among athletes who compete at a higher level of competition. Another finding: authentic leadership was linked to a reduction in mental illness, fewer feelings of depression, anxiety and stress.
“Authentic leadership” makes athletes “more resilient, confident and optimistic”
“High-performance athletes tend to train together for more hours and have more frequent social interactions. The relationships that develop within the team become important, as do positive behaviors, such as support and encouragement from their teammates, which can be fostered by adopting an authentic leadership style. This could strengthen the psychological capital of athletes by making them more resilient, confident and optimistic, which would have beneficial effects on their mental health. The stronger effect of authentic leadership on athletes competing at higher levels is a unique finding that merits further exploration in future research.” said Maria Kavoussanuwho supervised the work.
