Organizational Justice and Leadership in Sports

Organizational justice in sports refers to the perception of fairness by athletes and support staff regarding resource allocation, decision-making processes and interpersonal treatment. Leadership in this context encompasses the behaviours and strategies employed by coaches and administrators to motivate, develop and manage athletes and teams. A robust body of evidence indicates that when athletes perceive decisions about playing time, selection and rewards as fair, they exhibit higher levels of satisfaction, commitment and performance. Leadership styles that integrate transparent decision processes, constructive feedback and respect for individual needs reinforce perceptions of justice and foster cohesive team environments. Globally, these insights guide policies for coach education, talent development programmes and high-performance management, illustrating how equitable leadership supports both athlete welfare and organisational success.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Organizational Justice and Leadership in Sports publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in organizational justice and leadership in sports across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Organizational Justice: Perception of fairness in resource distribution, decision processes and interpersonal treatment within a sporting organisation.

Distributive Justice: Fairness in the allocation of outcomes such as playing time, selection and rewards among athletes.

Procedural Justice: Fairness of the methods and processes used to arrive at decisions affecting athletes and staff.

Interactional Justice: Quality of interpersonal treatment and communication during implementation of decisions.

Leader–Member Exchange (LMX): The dyadic relationship quality between coach and athlete, reflecting trust, mutual respect and support.

Met-Expectation Theory: Framework positing that satisfaction arises when actual experiences match prior expectations of fairness or treatment.

Autocratic Leadership: A style in which coaches make decisions unilaterally with limited athlete input.

References

1. Impact of Met-Expectation of Athletic Justice on Athletic Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment via Leader–Member Exchange among Elite Saudi Arabian Athletes. Behavioral Sciences (2023).
2. Self-reported playing time and justice as predictors of coach satisfaction: An analysis of elite ice-hockey and handball players. Cogent Social Sciences (2020).
3. Coaching Leadership Behaviours in Strength and Conditioning Coaching: Preferences of NCAA Division I and II Collegiate Student-Athletes Based on Level of Competition. International Journal of Strength and Conditioning (2024).