Abstract This study examines how athletes’ preferred coaching leadership styles relate to and influence the coach–athlete relationship and leadership effectiveness. A total of 90 collegiate badminton players from Taiwan’s general division were recruited using purposive sampling. The researcher personally administered the implicit association test and conducted a survey questionnaire with each participant using a two-stage data collection process. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, difference analysis, correlation analysis, and multiple regression to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings show that coaches who adopt a democratic leadership style positively influence the coach–athlete relationship and leadership effectiveness. Athletes who prefer democratic leadership significantly moderated the association between coaching leadership behavior and leadership effectiveness. When coaches adopted a democratic style, coaching effectiveness increased significantly. Differences between the coach’s displayed style and athletes’ preferences did not produce a significant effect on the coach–athlete relationship; however, when coaches employed an autocratic approach while athletes preferred a democratic style, athletes’ evaluations of coaching effectiveness declined significantly. Overall, collegiate badminton players generally preferred coaches who demonstrate a democratic leadership style, which helps create a harmonious training climate and fosters team cohesion. This contributes to enhancing the effectiveness of coaching leadership.
Lin et al. (Thu,) studied this question.