Sport Management Studies

Studying the Factors Affecting the Ethical Decision Making of female coaches in Tehran province

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Bahareh Asiyaei 1
Maryam Mokhtari dinani 1
Rasool Norouzi seyed hossini 2

1 Department of Sport Management, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Sports Management, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22089/smrj.2025.16720.4020
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Background and Purpose
Coaches, as specialists in sports clubs, play a major and key role in the development, expansion, and success of sports teams as well as in the training and preparation of athletes. Ethical decision-making is defined as the process of evaluating and choosing from among available options in a manner that is consistent with ethical principles. Examining the concepts and value beliefs of coaches and how they make decisions in difficult ethical situations is a great help in improving the behaviors of coaches in all sports and social fields. In addition, by improving the behaviors of coaches as part of the sports community, we will witness the development of sports in order to educate individuals with desirable individual principles and values, which will lead to the growth and development of society. To achieve this, coaches must be able to make ethical and correct decisions even in difficult and pressured situations. In a study conducted with the aim of designing an interpretive structural model of factors affecting the development of professional ethics in female coaches of national teams, the factors affecting the development of professional ethics in female coaches of national teams were categorized into 4 levels. The results of this study showed that the most important criterion for the development of professional ethics in female coaches of national teams are the factors categorized in the personal criterion, and among all the factors, the most important factor is "having a complete knowledge of oneself." In another study, there was a significant positive relationship between training and practice behaviors, social support, positive democratic feedback of coaches and ethical decision-making.
Women establish the most fundamental moral foundations in a society and assume various roles using different social bases. Raising the generation is the most important role of women, and since moral decision-making is the ability of an individual to make the right decision in a difficult moral situation and these types of situations are abundantly observed in current sports, especially for coaches, therefore the main issue of the present research is what model do female coaches use for their decision-making and what factors affect the moral decision-making of female coaches?​
 
Methods
The present study is applied research in terms of purpose, descriptive in terms of method, and field research in terms of data collection method. The statistical population of the study was all female coaches of sports clubs in Tehran province, and the statistical sample of the study was determined to be 398 people who were selected purposefully and conveniently from the research population. The research tool is a researcher-made questionnaire that was used after validation. In this study, the ethical model of organizational management was used, and this model was used as the main and primary basis for identifying factors affecting the ethical decision-making of female coaches in Tehran province. In addition, by conducting library studies, items related to each component were extracted and examined in the form of 6 factors (psychological factors, professional factors, deviant factors, spiritual and material factors, personal ethics factors, and environmental factors). The face validity of the research instrument was confirmed by the opinions of 12 experts, and the reliability of the research instrument was confirmed in a pilot study through the Cronbach's alpha method. For data analysis, Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, one-sample t-test, and structural equation modeling were used to design the model.​
 
Results
The description of the demographic characteristics of the research sample showed the largest number of research samples (47.5%) belonged to the age group of 20 to 30 years. In addition, 43.5% of the research sample had between 6 and 10 years of work experience. Regarding education, 43.2% of the research sample had a master's degree and 73.66% of them had studied physical education.Based on the research findings, the values obtained for the Q² index, except for the psychological factors component, which is in the moderate to strong range; the values for other components are more than 0.35 (strong). In addition, the R² values are in the strong range and the SRMR value is less than 0.1, which indicates the appropriate quality of the tested model. Also, based on the path coefficients obtained in the research model, among the factors affecting the ethical decision-making of female coaches in Tehran province, professional factors (0.926), personal ethics (0.898), environmental factors (0.875), deviant factors (0.806), spiritual and material factors (0.802), and psychological factors (0.729) had the highest path coefficients, respectively.​
 
Conclusion
The aim of this study was to study the factors affecting the ethical decision-making of female coaches in Tehran province. According to the results obtained in this study, the factors affecting the ethical decision-making of female coaches in Tehran province include one. Environmental factors; two. spiritual and material factors; three. Professional factors; four. Deviant factors; five. Personal ethics and six. Psychological factors and the effect of all six factors affecting the ethical decision-making of female coaches in Tehran province was confirmed. Given that professional factors obtained the highest path coefficient, it seems that coaches initially consider professional factors in their ethical decision-making. Professional factors are related to the organization and professional status, and as a result, professional behavior with superiors, peers, and subordinates can be expected from an ethical manager. In addition, personal ethics, after professional factors, are influential in the ethical decision-making of female coaches. Personal values are part of the many beliefs that individuals consciously or unconsciously maintain about their world. Values are distinguished from each other by their content and cover beliefs that cause a particular form of behavior to be preferred over other behavioral options. Values provide the basis for and guide moral judgment. Personal values that influence ethical decision-making are concepts or beliefs about desirable goals or behaviors that guide a person in choosing or evaluating a behavior in a particular situation and have relative importance to each other. Each person holds values with different importance to themselves. A particular value may be very important to one person, but not to another. In addition, the third priority component is environmental factors. The social, governmental and legal, work, professional and personal environments of a decision-maker are among the factors that affect ethical and unethical behavior. Deviant factors are also known as the fourth priority in the factors affecting the ethical decision-making of female coaches in Tehran province. These factors represent the cases that are effective in the relationship between managers and the issues that arise. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the effective deviant factors. The fifth component that affects the ethical decision-making of female coaches in Tehran province is spiritual and material factors, and all the factors studied, including materialism, outward and inward religiosity, and moral judgment of individuals, have a significant relationship with their moral orientation. Comparing the factors affecting the ethical decision-making of female coaches in Tehran province in team and individual sports also showed that, despite the fact that the path coefficients of the components of the final research model in the two groups of team and individual sports are different from each other; but this difference is not statistically significant. Therefore, it is concluded that the contribution of factors affecting ethical decision-making of female coaches in Tehran province in team and individual sports is almost similar.
Given that professional factors had the highest path coefficient in the ethical decision-making of female coaches, in order to improve the ethical decision-making of female coaches in Tehran province, it is necessary to pay special attention to each of the factors constituting this component. Some of the factors constituting this component are related to the personality of coaches (such as taste orientation, evasion of responsibility, failure to consult with subordinates, etc.); which need to be changed through personal development techniques and coaches need to change their perspective in this regard. The second subcomponent in professional factors is disregard for benevolence and honesty in criticism, which requires coaches to prioritize the principle of benevolence for athletes in their decision-making and be honest about the criticisms they have of them. However, regarding factors related to organizational culture, leadership styles, job satisfaction, and reward system, it is necessary to carefully identify the obstacles to the realization of ethical decision-making in these factors and provide a basis for improving ethical decision-making by coaches.​
Article Message
This article presents a clear message to managers, policymakers, coaches, and sports practitioners: Ethical decision-making by all individuals, including coaches, not only enhances the status and character of coaches among athletes and the general public, but also creates a suitable atmosphere in sports environments and makes sports environments more pleasant, so that athletes strive for success in sports teams with greater desire and enthusiasm.​
Ethical Considerations
This study followed the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants were fully informed about the purpose and procedures of the study and provided informed consent prior to participation. Confidentiality, voluntary participation, and the right to withdraw at any stage were guaranteed; however, none chose to discontinue.​
Conflict of Interest
The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.
Acknowledgments
We express our sincere gratitude to all the participants of this study, whose invaluable contributions and cooperation made it possible for us to successfully complete this research.
 

Keywords

Personal Ethics
Ethical Decision Making
Professional Factors
Female Coaches

Subjects

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Sport Management Studies
Volume 17, Issue 93
January and February 2026
Pages 123-144

  • Receive Date 04 May 2024
  • Revise Date 18 October 2025
  • Accept Date 01 November 2025

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