The effects of authentic leadership on athlete outcomes: an experimental study

Authentic leadership is a form of leadership which could be promising in sport. However, to date, very few studies have examined this leadership style in sport and most of them have been cross-sectional. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of authentic leadership on a range of athlete outcomes in an experimental setting. To this end, we conducted an experiment, using a 3 condition (high, low, neutral authentic leadership) between-participant design. A total of 129 participants (Mage = 19.36; 76 females) were randomly assigned to a high, low, or neutral authentic leadership condition. We manipulated authentic leadership using scripts depicting an imaginary coach and examined the influence of this manipulation on participants’ trust, enjoyment, commitment, cheating, aggression, and anticipated guilt for cheating and aggression. A series of ANOVAs indicated that participants in the high authentic leadership condition reported that they would feel greater trust, be more committed, experience greater enjoyment, and be less likely to be aggressive compared to participants in the low and neutral authentic leadership conditions. There were no effects on cheating or anticipated guilt for cheating or aggression. The findings suggest that authentic leadership could promote trust, enjoyment, and commitment, as well as reduce aggression in sport.