Division-I Student-Athletes’ Affective and Cognitive Responses to Receiving Confirmation From Their Head Coach

Abstract

Coach confirmation—a behavior that encompasses coaches’ recognition, endorsement, and acknowledgment of athletes—has been forwarded as an effective coaching behavior that redresses ineffective and antisocial patterns of coaching. Empirical evidence of its effectiveness, however, has been limited to athlete affect and based on data from retrospective samples of former high school athletes. This study addresses these limitations by exploring the effectiveness of coaches’ use of confirmation with collegiate student-athletes and considers its influence on their satisfaction with coaches and sport, competitiveness, and cognitive learning. Data obtained from 177 Division-I student-athletes revealed that coaches’ use of challenge increases student-athletes’ satisfaction, motivation, competitiveness, and learning, whereas the use of acceptance only determines satisfaction. These findings demonstrate that confirmation is an effective coaching behavior, its dimensions function independently, and challenge best fulfills the multidimensional nature of coaching effectiveness. The implications of this data reveal that confirmation theory functions uniquely within the athletic context, and coach effectiveness is largely determined by the implementation of strategies and efforts to refine skill sets and assist in development.

High School Athletes’ Reports of Confirmation as a Function of Starting Status and Leader–Member Exchange

“…In this manner, coaches may still be prioritizing the functioning of their teams by strategically challenging both starting and nonstarting athletes (i.e., in line with the spirit that underlies the assertions of LMX). This notion is encouraging, given that challenge appears to be the most beneficial aspect of confirmation for athletes’ motivation, satisfaction, and learning (Cranmer et al, 2018; Cranmer & Mazer, 2018).…”

“…Confirmation theory argues that the presence of both acceptance and challenge is beneficial for a host of attitudinal, affective, and behavioral outcomes (Dailey et al, 2016). To date, empirical evidence has demonstrated the effectiveness of coach confirmation, as coaches’ use of acceptance is associated with higher affective evaluations of communication with coaches and sporting experiences among collegiate student-athletes (Cranmer & Mazer, 2018). Moreover, coaches’ use of challenge is associated with not only affective evaluations but also motivation, competitiveness, and cognitive learning for former high school and collegiate student-athletes (Cranmer et al, 2017, 2018; Cranmer & Mazer, 2018).…”

“…To date, empirical evidence has demonstrated the effectiveness of coach confirmation, as coaches’ use of acceptance is associated with higher affective evaluations of communication with coaches and sporting experiences among collegiate student-athletes (Cranmer & Mazer, 2018). Moreover, coaches’ use of challenge is associated with not only affective evaluations but also motivation, competitiveness, and cognitive learning for former high school and collegiate student-athletes (Cranmer et al, 2017, 2018; Cranmer & Mazer, 2018). Taken together, this evidence suggests that while acceptance and challenge are important in shaping emotions and attitudes towards coaches, challenge alone determines psychological orientation toward competition and the retention of sporting information.…”

“…One behavior that helps coaches achieve this development is coach confirmation , which comprises communication that makes athletes “feel endorsed, recognized, and acknowledged as valuable, significant individuals” (Cranmer & Brann, 2015, p. 195). Recent research has demonstrated that confirmation is accomplished via accepting and challenging athletes (Cranmer, Brann, & Weber, 2017) and contributes to their satisfaction with coaches and sporting experiences, motivation to participate in sports, and cognitive learning (Cranmer, Brann, & Weber, 2018; Cranmer & Mazer, 2018). Although demonstrations of the effectiveness of coach confirmation are encouraging, these findings are subverted by reports that coaches use disparate levels of confirmation among their teams.…”

Core self-evaluations and sportive practice: Comparisons between practitioners and non-practitioners college students

“…Praticantes de esportes, especificamente, podem exercitar diferentes competências por meio dessas práticas (Holt, 2016). O engajamento nos esportes, especialmente quando focados no alto rendimento e na competição, envolve constantes feedbacks ao atleta, que podem influenciar seus níveis de motivação e competitividade (Cranmer, Gagnon, & Mazer, 2019). Atletas que apresentam bons níveis de rendimento podem desenvolver autopercepções mais positivas de si e generalizá-las para outras dimensões da vida, o que possibilita uma melhor adaptação aos desafios de diferentes contextos.…”