Effects of different leadership styles on performance and state anxiety in football players

Abstract: The present experimental study aimed to investigate the effect of a controlling leadership style, in contrast to an autonomy supportive leadership style on performance and state anxiety in student football players. The sample consisted of 35 participants, 25 men and 10 women, between 16 to 20 years. The experiment had an interventional effect with pre and post measurements. There were two intervention groups and one control group. The intervention groups consisted of a controlling leadership group and an autonomy supportive leadership group. Pre- and post-test performance was measured by means of four different football skill exercises with binary outcomes. There were four exercises and three measured trials which gave a maximum points total of 12 points in the exercises. State anxiety was measured by means of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 Revised. CSAI-2R is a self-report scale which aims to explore three dimensions of anxiety: Cognitive anxiety (CA), somatic anxiety (SA), self- confidence (SC). Each participant filled in this scale after they completed the four football exercises. No statistically significant pre- to post-test changes in CA, SA, SC or football performance, as an effect of leadership style, was found. However, players in the controlling leadership condition showed significantly higher levels of SA and lower levels of SC in comparison to the control group at post-test