Emotional intelligence in coaching: Mediation effect of coaching efficacy on the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership style

This study investigated the relationships among emotional intelligence (EI), coaching efficacy (CE), and leadership style (LS) of coaches and tested the mediation effect of CE in the relationship between EI and LS. Using 323 head basketball coaches at the high school level, structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the relationships in the model and the meditational effect. The final model provided a good fit to that data, in which LS was directly predicted by EI and CE. The standardized estimates are 0.497 and 0.403, respectively. Also, EI directly predicted CE (0.624). The findings showed significant mediating effect of CE on the relationship between EI and LS (0.251).