Narcissism and Coaching Efficacy in Coaching Education Students

Background/Purpose: Narcissism is an approach to self-regulation whereby self-esteem is inflated through social processes resulting in several negative behaviors like overconfidence, aggression, and shallow interpersonal relationships (Twenge & Foster, 2010). Recently, researchers have determined that narcissism rates are on the rise, specifically within a college population. In contrast, coaching behaviors connected with high athlete satisfaction include a caring climate (Fry & Gano-Overway, 2010), a positive approach to coaching (Barnett, Smoll, & Smith, 1992), and high coaching efficacy (Myers, Vargas-Tonsing, & Feltz, 2005). The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between narcissism and coaching efficacy in a sample of coaching education students.

Method: Coaching Education students (n=149) from a southeastern university were recruited for the study. Participants were asked to complete a short demographic survey, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, the Coaching Efficacy Scale, and a jobs survey created for this study.

Analysis/Results: Preliminary analyses revealed a Cronbach alpha of .81 for the NPI and of .96 for the Coaching Efficacy Scale and .89 for the perceived job availability scale. Narcissism scores were somewhat high (M=18.9, SD=6.1) as were coaching efficacy scores (M=196.9, SD=19.1). Results suggest a significant, yet weak, positive relationship between narcissism and coaching efficacy (r=.19, p<.05). Finally, a multiple regression analysis revealed coaching efficacy and years of coaching experience to be significant predictors of perceived job availability.

Conclusions: Results of the mean scores for narcissism will be discussed in relation to the population means for college students. The risk associated with high levels of narcissism in a coaching population will also be discussed. Finally, perceptions of job availability will be discussed in relation to coaching efficacy and the role of coaching education in shaping student perceptions.