PurposeThis study aims to investigate how university students' basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) determine whether coaching or training is more supportive for them.Design/methodology/approachReal-life coaching (N1 = 110) and training (N2 = 176) processes with students as clients were examined, measuring the students' needs before the coaching/training, their need fulfilment after the coaching/training and their satisfaction and goal attainment/intrinsic motivation after the coaching/training.FindingsThe results show that university students with a higher autonomy need had this need fulfilled to a greater extent through coaching, while university students with a higher competence need had this need fulfilled to a greater extent through training.Research limitations/implicationsThe research focused on university students and was conducted at German-speaking universities, so it is unclear to what extent the findings are transferable to other contexts. In addition, future research is needed to further compare other personal development tools, such as mentoring or consulting.Practical implicationsThe results depict the relevance of the most appropriate personal development tool (coaching or training) depending on students' needs. Furthermore, coaches should be autonomy-supportive, while trainers should be competence-supportive.Originality/valueSupporting students with the most appropriate personal development tool is essential for the effectiveness of this tool. Thus, the personal development tool used should reflect students' needs: students with a high autonomy need should receive coaching, while students with a high competence need should receive training.
People with high dark triad levels, consisting of subclinical narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, can have a destructive impact on their team members, subordinates, and the organisation. Recent research has even found that the higher the leadership position, the more dark triad traits were displayed. As coaching is often for people in (higher) leadership positions, the following study with 64 coaches investigated the dark triad traits among their clients and how this affected the coach as well as the coaching. The results show that the higher the client's leadership level was, the higher their dark triad level was perceived and, thus, the more anxious and distressed the coaches were regarding the client, leading to less coaching success. Although the coaches did not name a definite strategy for dealing with such a client, the results showed that the higher their approach motivation was, the more successful the coaches was. The results depict the danger of high dark triad levels amongst coaching clients and its influences on the business coaching, implying theoretical and practical considerations.
Cognitive empathy, expressed as either imagine-self (imagining oneself in the other’s situation) or imagine-other (imagining the other person in his/her situation) empathy, is essential for self-change and satisfaction in coaching. In two studies, we investigated the difference between coaches’ imagine-self versus imagine-other empathy. In a survey study (N1 = 242), we found that the more important coaches perceived the client’s self-change, the more valuable they not only rated empathy in general but also imagine-other (but not imagine-self) empathy in particular. In an experimental study (N2 = 57), we manipulated the coaches’ imagine-self versus imagine-other empathy and examined the effect on the clients’ self-change and coaching satisfaction. The results revealed a positive effect of imagine-other (but not imagine-self) empathy on these coaching outcome factors. Thus, one main practical implication is the relevance of showing imagine-other instead of imagine-self empathy as a coach. However, future research should investigate other personnel development approaches like mentoring or training with regard to imagine-self versus imagine-other empathy.
People with high dark triad tendencies are often found in leadership positions. Yet research is lacking on whether dark triad personality traits positively correlate with the height of leadership levels (no leadership position, low-level leaders, high-level leaders, head and founder of the company). To explore this relationship between the dark triad and these leadership levels, three studies (NGermany = 137; NHungary = 333; NBothCountries = 355) were conducted, to measure dark triad scores for each leadership level. The results reveal that people in higher leadership levels display both higher self-rated and subordinate-rated dark triad scores. Further research is needed to investigate whether this finding is replicable for more objective measures and longitudinal studies as well as cultural norms, which may discourage or support dark triad traits. As the organizations are an important factor in promoting ethic-oriented behavior in individuals, one practical implication could be increased focus on developing ethical behavior during the assessment and training of leadership positions.
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