Coach Servant Leadership and Athlete Serving Behaviors: The Role of Intrinsic Motivation and Positive Affect

This study argues, based on macro theory, which integrates self-determination and broaden-and-build theories, that a coach’s servant leadership enhances athletes’ intrinsic motivation and positive affect, thus enhancing their serving behaviors toward their teammates. In Study 1, data were collected from 600 athletes belonging to university athletic clubs in Japan through an online survey. In Study 2, data were collected from a university with one of the largest sport faculties in Japan at two time points—with 311 university athletes at Time 1 and 269 athletes, 3 months later, at Time 2. The results revealed that intrinsic motivation and positive affect sequentially mediated the positive relationship between coach servant leadership and athlete serving behaviors. The findings contribute to the development of the servant-leadership literature by demonstrating a new pathway from servant leadership of coaches (leaders) to serving behaviors of athletes (followers) based on macro theory.