Harold A. Riemer

Leadership and Satisfaction in Tennis: Examination of Congruence, Gender, and Ability

Abstract The study investigated: (a) the congruency hypothesis, and (b) the member characteristics hypotheses relating to ability and gender, of Chelladurais (1978) Multidimensional Model of Leadership. One hundred forty-eight tennis players (77 women) competing at the NCAA Division I and II Tennis Championship level participated in the study. Results indicated athlete satisfaction (Athlete Satisfaction Scale; Riemer & Chelladurai, 1998) was not dependent on the congruence between preferred and perceived leadership behavior. Other results indicated that an athletes level of ability did affect preferences for leadership behavior. Further, while athlete gender was responsible for some variance in preferences for autocratic behavior and positive feedback behavior, the gender of the athletes coach had a significant effect on the athletes preferences for social support behavior.

Managing Employee Diversity: Perceived Practices and Organisational Outcomes in NCAA Division III Athletic Departments

The literature suggests that organisations that engage in proactive diversity management strategies are more likely to experience positive organisational outcomes than those that shun or ignore diversity. This study assessed the diversity practices present in Division III intercollegiate athletic institutions in order to determine whether the differences in diversity practices affected individual and organisational outcomes. Members of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III athletic organisations1 (N = 281) responded to a survey designed to assess strategies for managing diversity, as well as individual and organisational outcomes. Results suggested that different diversity practices are indeed related to significant levels of variance in perceptions of outcomes. Specifically, proactive diversity management strategies significantly contributed to variance in all the outcome measures and had the largest beta weights (ranging from 0.28 to 0.57) for all the outcomes. Results are discussed in detail and suggestions for future research are provided.

Athlete Satisfaction and Leadership: Assessing Group-Level Effects

In a group context (e.g., athletic team), group-level effects may be present in constructs typically measured at the individual level (e.g., athlete satisfaction, leadership behavior). If a group-level effect is present, constructs should be analyzed using the group as the unit of analysis and failure to do so can lead to skewed relationships with other constructs. The purpose of this study is to examine the existence and magnitude of group-level effects when athletes rate athlete satisfaction and leadership behavior. The authors hypothesize: (a) group-level effects emerge when group members rate a shared property of the group, and (b) group-level effects may be present when group members rate an individual-level construct that exist within the context of the group. A total of 212 team athletes (members of 16 interactive athletic teams; mean age 20.1 ± 1.96 years) completed subscales of the Leadership Scale for Sports and the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire. Results show large group-level effects for all leadership behavior dimensions and satisfaction dimensions associated with group-level constructs, whereas smaller group-level effects were found for satisfaction dimensions associated with individual-level constructs. The results support the hypotheses that group-level effects can emerge for constructs previously viewed solely as individual-level constructs when measured in a group setting. Recognition of these effects should play a factor in determining the appropriate unit of analysis. Implications for handling groups without a group-level effect, while the majority of groups show an effect, are also discussed.

Factorial validity and gender invariance of the center for epidemiological studies depression in cardiac rehabilitation patients.

PURPOSE: To find a best-fitting factor structure of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) and test whether this structure is invariant across gender in a cardiac rehabilitation population. METHODS: We examined the data from 920 participants of a cardiac rehabilitation exercise program. Fourteen confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine existing factor solutions from the literature. The best-fitting model was tested for invariance across gender. RESULTS: The data fit best to a 3-factor solution, which has 14 items and 3 factors (ie, somatic symptoms, negative affect, and anhedonia). The goodness-of-fit indices showed an acceptable fit. The invariance analysis revealed that the factor structure is equivalent across gender. CONCLUSIONS: While a fitting factor solution was found, rehabilitation practitioners and researchers need to be aware of the psychometrical shortcomings of the CES-D and consider using other scales as alternative measures of depressive symptoms.