Psychometric properties of the multidimensional sport leadership scale: Comparison to multifactorial leadership questionnaire

Clarifying the actions of leaders and reducing construct redundancy in evaluation leadership is vital to improve knowledge about leadership. This study compares the psychometric properties of Multidimensional Sport Leadership Scale (MSLS; Gomes & Resende, 2014) and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X; Bass & Avolio, 2000). Data collection included 379 athletes competing at national level of collective sports. Athletes fulfilled the MSL, MLQ-5X, and the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire (ASQ; Riener & Chelladurai, 1998). Data analysis included construct validity, scale reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Construct validity revealed original structures of MSLS and MLQ-5X, although MLQ-5X presented higher problems of internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) and of convergent validity than MSLS. Transformational constructs of both instruments revealed convergent validity with satisfaction with leadership of ASQ instrument but MLQ-5X transactional constructs assumed stronger correlation with ASQ than the MSLS transactional constructs. In conclusion, MSLS revealed better psychometric properties than MLQ-5X, representing an alternative to evaluate leadership.This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), School of Psychology, University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (UID/PSI/01662/2019), through the national funds (PIDDAC)