Professors and Coaches: Who Has More Authority?

Research shows that people will obey authority when that authority has aided to their success in the past. Research is lacking when investigating the impact of authority on college students. Specifically, researchers have yet to study obedience to authority in both the athletic and academic setting. The current research looks to add to this arena of study. In particular, the current study hypothesizes that (a) athletes are more likely to obey the authority of a coach than non-athletes and (b) coaches have more authority over their athletes than professors have over their students. To test these hypotheses, a two-part study was developed. For Part I, 56 participants were surveyed using a 3(rule: severe, moderate, low) X 3(punishment: severe, moderate, low) X 2(participants: athletes and nonathletes) within-subject design. In Part II, 86 participants were surveyed using a 3(rule: severe, moderate, low) X 3(punishment: severe, moderate, low) X 2(setting: athletic and academic) within-subject design. Overall, results indicated that athletes were more likely to obey if they deemed the punishment fit the infraction. In addition, athletic departments are viewed differently than the academic department. In the athletic department, participants are more likely to obey and less likely to question or complain; in the academic department they are less likely to obey and more likely to question and complain