“That’s How We Do Things Here”: An Investigation into Athlete Perceptions of Coach and Peer Leadership Behaviors, and Team Culture

Team culture can be considered essential for the success of any sport team, and it is known that leaders of all kinds play a unique role in making team success a reality. Utilizing survey tools developed by industrial/organizational psychology, this study investigated how athlete perceptions of head coach and peer leadership behaviors are predictive of athlete perceptions of team culture. A sample of 155 current collegiate athletes representing 17 NCAA teams across three divisions participated in an online survey. A path model analysis found that perceptions of leadership behaviors of both head coaches and peer leaders were significantly predictive of athlete perceptions of team culture. Further, perceptions of head coach leadership behavior were predictive of perceptions of group communication, while perceptions of peer leadership were more significantly related to the social aspects of team culture. The results of this study provide insight into the unique ways in which athletes’ perception of leadership can influence team culture and can aid in the understanding of how team culture works within a sport context.