Relationships between Leadership, Exercise Flow, and Athletic Performance as Perceived by Female Taekwondo Players = Relationships between Leadership, Exercise Flow, and Athletic Performance as Perceived by Female Taekwondo Players

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Purpose: Multi-precedent studies report that Exercise Flow has a positive effect on athletic performance, and the level of Exercise Flow can be determined by leadership that leaders show. Given this fact, it is anticipated that leadership, Exercise Flow, athletic performance would have correlative associations. Yet, there have been few researches about the validity test of all of the relationships. In this regard, the purpose of the current study is to determine the right leadership for female Taekwondo players and to develop the best method for enhancing their athletic performance. To achieve the purpose, this study is going to investigate the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Leaders’ leadership as perceived by female Taekwondo players influences Exercise Flow.
Hypothesis 2: Leaders’ leadership as perceived by female Taekwondo players influences athletic performance.
Hypothesis 3: Female Taekwondo players’ Exercise Flow influences athletic performance.
Methods: As the population group, this research study selected female Taekwondo players who were attending middle and high schools, targeting the player participants in the 46th National Association of Taekwondo Competition and the 25th Minister of Defense of Taekwondo Championship. We limited the number of research subjects to 362. The research tools utilized in this study were modified and complemented based on the questionnaire tested through precedent studies. The questionnaire consisted of 30 questions (3 questions of demographic features, 16 leaders’ leadership questions, 8 Exercise Flow questions, and 3 athletic performance questions) with a Likert scale of 5 points. Specifically, Taekwondo leaders’ leadership was studied with the tool of Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS) devel-oped by Chelladurai and Saleh (1980). Exercise Flow activities were studied by modifying and complementing a questionnaire developed by Jeong (1997). Lastly, athletic performance was studied by modifying and complementing questions devised by Fiedler and Bil-lo (1973). In order to test the validity and reliability of the research tools, we implemented convergent validity and internal consistency with the use of confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach’s α coefficient. Frequency analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation were conducted with PASW/PC 23 and AMOS 18.0. The significance of the indirect effect was tested with Bootstrapping.
Results: This research study conducted causal relations of each variable by establishing research hypothesis (H1~ H3). First, Hypothesis 1 assumed that leaders’ leadership perceived by female Taekwondo players would have effects on Exercise Flow. This hypothesis was proved statistically significant with a 0.721 path coefficient (t = 6.828, p = 0.000) and adopted. Second, Hypothesis 2 assumed that leaders’ leadership perceived by female Taekwondo players would have effects on athletic performance. This hypothesis was proved statistically significant with a 0.227 path coefficient (t = 1.969, p = 0.050) and adopted. Third, Hypothesis 3 assumed that Exercise Flow in female Taekwondo players would have effects on athletic performance. This hypothesis was proved statistically significant with a 0.671 path coefficient (t = 7.503, p = 0.000) and adopted. According to the causal effects analysis of research models, the total effect of leaders’ leadership perceived by female Taekwondo players on Exercise Flow reached 0.721, while that of Exercise Flow on athletic performance accounted for 0.711. Lastly, regarding the influences of leaders’ leadership on athletic performance perceived by players, the direct, indirect, and total effects reached 0.227, 0.484, and 0.671, respectively. The indirect effect measured with the use of Bootstrapping was significant. Also, it was found that the causal effect of the all the research models was measured as 2.103.
Conclusions: There were correlations between athletic performance of female Taekwondo players, leaders’ leadership, and players’ Exercise Flow. In this context, it is considered that leadership and Exercise Flow perceived by female Taekwondo players are the important factors for improving athletic performance. Taking this into account, the method for enhancing players’ athletic performance should be pursued by understanding and applying the type of leadership suitable for female Taekwondo players and should consider the specific differences between female and male Taekwondo players to achieve a higher level of Exercise Flow.
*