The mediating role of altruistic leadership perception in the relationship between psychological wellbeing and job performance among coaches

Background The mediating role of altruistic leadership perception in the relationship between psychological wellbeing and job performance has not yet been sufficiently investigated in samples of coaches. Objective This study aimed to examine the mediating role of altruistic leadership perception in the relationship between psychological wellbeing and job performance among coaches. Methods The research sample consisted of 491 coaches actively working in the Eastern Anatolia region who participated voluntarily and was selected using a simple random sampling method. The participants were between 18 and 44 years old, with a mean age of 26.6 ± 7.37 years. As data collection instruments, the Short Form of the Psychological WellBeing Scale developed by Telef, the Altruistic Leadership Scale originally developed by Barbuto and Wheeler and adapted into Turkish by Çakmak et al., and the Job Performance Scale developed by Çalişkan and Köroglu were administered. Data were analyzed using SPSS and Jamovi software. The scales used in the study were validated, and their construct validity was confirmed. Results The findings revealed statistically significant positive associations among psychological wellbeing, altruistic leadership, and job performance, with the strongest association observed between psychological wellbeing and job performance. Conclusions Mediation analysis indicated that coaches' psychological wellbeing showed a strong direct association with job performance, while altruistic leadership demonstrated a small but statistically significant indirect effect within this relationship. From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes to the sports management and organizational psychology literature by empirically demonstrating that altruistic leadership may function as a meaningful relational pathway linking psychological wellbeing and job performance in coaching contexts.