Personality traits and gender roles as predictors of sports management students' leadership orientations: A structural equality modelling study

This study aims to examine the leadership orientations, personality traits, and attitudes towards gender roles of sports management students according to various variables, and to determine the predictive power of personality traits and gender roles on leadership orientations. The research employs a correlational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods. The population of the study consists of sports management students continuing their education in the faculties of sports sciences and physical education and sports colleges of different universities. The sample comprises 385 sports management students (150 females, 235 males) studying in the 2023-2024 academic year. A research form composed of four sections was used for data collection. The first section of the form includes questions to determine the demographic information of the sports management students who voluntarily participated in the study. The second section includes the "Multidimensional Leadership Orientation Scale" (MLOS) developed by Dursun, Günay, and Yenel (2019). The third section includes the "Big Five Inventory" (BFI) developed by John, Donahue, and Kentle (1991) and adapted into Turkish by Karaman, Doğan, and Çoban (2010). The fourth and final section includes the "Gender Roles Attitude Scale" (GRAS) developed by Zeyneloğlu and Terzioğlu (2011). The data obtained from the study were analysed using SPSS 22 and AMOS software packages. Before the data analysis, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests were conducted to examine the normality of the data distribution, and it was found that the data were normally distributed. Therefore, independent samples T-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for the data analysis. For groups with significant differences identified through ANOVA, Post-Hoc Gabriel and Tukey tests were used if the variances were homogeneous, while Games-Howell test was used if the variances were not homogeneous. Pearson correlation test was employed to determine the relationship between scale scores, and structural equation modelling (path analysis) was used to determine the effect between scale scores. Statistical analyses were compared at a 95% confidence level and a 0.05 significance level, and the results were explained. According to the results obtained from the research, the variables of age, class level, mother's educational level, leadership experience in organizations, the perception of possessing leadership qualities, and engagement in sports lead to significant differences in the leadership orientations of sports management students. Gender, age, parental educational levels, and engagement in sports cause significant differences in the students' personality traits, while gender, class level, engagement in sports, and sports age cause significant differences in their attitudes towards gender roles. Additionally, a significant relationship has been identified between the leadership orientations, personality traits, and attitudes towards gender roles of sports management students. It has also been concluded that leadership orientations are predicted by personality traits and attitudes towards gender roles.