Emotional intelligence, emotional labor, coach burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover intention in sport leadership

ABSTRACT

Research Question(s): Emotions play a critical role in the leadership process. Relatively little is known about the management of emotions and its impact on individual well-being within the realm of sport leadership. To fill this void, this study examined the relationships between emotional intelligence, the three forms of emotional labor, coach burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions among high school athletic coaches.

Research Methods: Three hundred twenty-two high school coaches in the United States completed the online questionnaires measuring the proposed variables. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were employed to test the proposed hypotheses.

Results and Findings: Emotional intelligence was significantly associated with all three forms of emotional labor in different directions. Additionally, surface acting was positively associated with coach burnout and negatively associated with job satisfaction. Deep acting and genuine expression were negatively associated with coach burnout and positively associated with job satisfaction. Finally, turnover intention was positively associated with coach burnout and negatively associated with job satisfaction.

Implications: Practically, coaches should use deep acting and genuine expressions and avoid surface acting for the benefit of both coaches and organizations. The results also showed the significant role of emotional intelligence on the health-detrimental strategy of surface acting and the health-beneficial strategy of deep acting and genuine expression.

KEYWORDS:

• Coping strategy
• emotions
• emotional competence
• emotional regulation
• interscholastic sports

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.