Yes, Coach! Examining Athlete Willingness to Receive Critical Feedback from their Head Coach

Abstract

In this study, the researcher examined athletes' willingness to receive critical feedback from their head coach. The experiment surveyed 102 Princeton student-athletes, having participants report their self-reported objectivity score (based on the Pronin et. al. (2023) Objectivism scale), their willingness to accept critical feedback from their head coach, and their perceptions of their coach’s objectivity. Additionally, perceptions of head coach coaching ability and likability were examined. The results indicated that an individual's perception of their head coaches’ coaching ability and likability had a significant positive effect on their willingness to receive critical feedback. Self-reported objectivism initially did not have a significant impact on an individual's willingness to receive critical feedback or their perception of their head coach's objectivity. However, when examining a subset of the Objectivism scale related to Disagreement Disparagement, significant results were found. The study found a significant correlation between the willingness to take critical feedback and the perceived coach objectivity score, indicating that athletes who perceive their coach as more objective may be more open to receiving feedback. Future research in athletics could further investigate the impact of different coaching styles and personality traits on athletes' reception of critical feedback. Additionally, giving and receiving feedback are concepts that have broad implications across multiple domains; thus, this study can expand on the current literature about feedback as a whole. Keywords: Objectivity, critical feedback, disagreement, bias, naïve realism, athletics, coaching