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PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUNGER AND OLDER COACHES

Tanja Kajtna ; Fakulteta za šport, Ljubljana
Jelena Cetinić ; Kineziološki fakultet – doktorski studij, Zagreb

Sažetak

The purpose of the research was to investigate the
differences between the psychological characteristics of
coaches who have been working in their field for a longer
period of time and are older (age 35+) and those of
younger (up to age 34) coaches who have recently begun
their coaching careers. One key characteristic of the
coaching profession is the significant stress to which
coaches are often subjected, and we attempted to
investigate whether large amounts of stress affect the
coaches' psychological characteristics. We compared
differences in personality traits, achievement motivation,
leadership characteristics, social skills, emotional
intelligence, and values. To assist in analysing each of
these characteristics, we applied suitable psychological
questionnaires. 275 Slovene coaches participated in this
study, and we found the younger coaches to be more
conscientious, more interested in cultural activities, more
open to new experiences, and more tolerant. Furthermore,
we observed that the younger coaches have achieved a
better level of control over their emotions. Older coaches
tend to be more democratic leaders, use less autocratic
approaches, and report job – related problems more
frequently. Some of these differences may be attributed to
disparate levels of education, as younger coaches are
generally better educated than their older counterpairs.
We found two characteristics that favour the older coaches
– they tend to emphasise the importance of excellence and
are more likely to delegate leadership tasks, whilst
younger coaches could be described as friendlier. Our
results show that older coaches are exposed to more stress,
which is reflected mainly in their attitudes towards their
professional values.

Ključne riječi

coaches; personality traits; social skills; leadership; emotional intelligence

Hrčak ID:

26484

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/26484

Datum izdavanja:

1.7.2008.

Podaci na drugim jezicima: hrvatski

Posjeta: 2.973 *