Coaching Behavior: Any Consequences for the Prevalence of Sexual Harassment?

Abstract

Coaches can easily dominate athletes and this unbalanced power distribution may be strengthened by authoritarian behavior; i.e. negative feedback, directive communication, coach-led decision making, task-centered role orientation, and goal orientation on performance. An unwanted risk emerges when the power is abused, which can lead to the occurrence of sexual harassment. This article examines whether authoritarian coaching behaviors may have any implications for female athletes experiences of sexual harassment from male and female coaches. The participants in this survey were 399 female sport & PE students from Czech Republic, Greece and Norway. The study revealed that both the prevalence of authoritarian behaviors and of sexual harassment were significantly higher from male coaches. There was a higher prevalence of sexual harassment experiences from both male and female coaches among those participants who had experienced authoritarian behaviors compared to those who did not. This indicates that authoritarian behaviors are a stronger predictor of experiences of sexual harassment than the gender of the coach.