When is transformational leadership associated with team commitment? The moderated mediation of intrateam communication and intrinsic motivation among collegiate soccer players.

INTRODUCTION

Given the critical role of interpersonal dynamics in competitive collegiate team sports, understanding the psychological mechanisms that foster athlete loyalty is essential for long-term team success. This study investigated the structural relationship between coaches' transformational leadership and collegiate athletes' affective team commitment, focusing on the mediating role of intrateam communication and the moderating effect of intrinsic motivation.

METHODS

Data were collected from 362 male university soccer players in South Korea. Hayes' PROCESS macro (Model 7) was employed to test the proposed moderated mediation model, utilizing 5,000 bootstrap resamples for significance testing.

RESULTS

The results indicated that transformational leadership was positively associated with team commitment both directly and indirectly through intrateam communication. Furthermore, the association between transformational leadership and communication was significantly contingent upon the athlete's level of intrinsic motivation. Simple slope analysis revealed that while the positive association between transformational leadership and communicative dynamics remained positive across all motivation levels, its magnitude was significantly weaker at lower levels (-1 SD) and reached its strongest level at higher levels (+1 SD) of intrinsic motivation. Finally, the integrated moderated mediation model was confirmed, as the strength of the indirect pathway via communication strengthened as motivation rose.

DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that intrinsic motivation functions as a psychological catalyst that is linked to a stronger relationship between transformational leadership and a robust communicative environment, ultimately strengthening the emotional bond between athletes and their teams. The results emphasize the importance of considering individual motivational profiles when evaluating transformational leadership strategies relation to team commitment.