THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONALITY AND TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP WILLINGNESS AMONG COLLEGIATE ATHLETES

Transformational leadership is considered to be a process of leadership in which the leader promotes a connection with their follower that increases the motivations of both parties (Northouse, 2022). Transformational leadership has been studied in both non-sporting and sporting domains, with personality considered to be a potential predictor of this type of leadership. However, no known research in the sporting domain has assessed if personality may influence an athlete’s willingness to provide transformational leadership to their teammates. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was twofold: 1) assess the relationship between athletes’ individual ratings on the Big Five personality traits and their willingness to provide transformational leadership to their teammates and, 2) assess the relationship between team personality composition (TPC) and athletes’ willingness to provide transformational leadership to teammates. The sample comprised 88 collegiate athletes (59 males [67.1%], 28 females [31.8%], and one ‘prefer not to say’ [1.1%]), who ranged from 18 to 23 years of age, with an average of 20.34 years (SD=1.16). At the individual level, results of multiple regression analyses demonstrated that extraversion and agreeableness predicted a greater willingness to provide many dimensions of transformational leadership. Conscientiousness predicted a greater willingness to provide leadership in the form of idealized influence, whereas neuroticism predicted a greater willingness to provide leadership in the form of individualized consideration. At the team level (i.e., TPC), bivariate correlations revealed that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were positively related to several transformational leadership willingness dimensions, including global transformational leadership. The main findings of this thesis suggest that personality may be an important athlete characteristic that can be used to help coaches and athletes identify potential leaders on their teams.