Coaches’ Leading Behaviors and Athletes’ Competitive Anxiety:The Mediation Effects of Sport Confidence and the Moderation Effects of Cognitive Style

The main purpose of this study was to explore the influence of athletes' perception of coaches' behaviors on their competitive anxiety.Meanwhile, the study examined the hypothe- sized mediation effects of sport confidence and the proposed moderation effects of cognitive style in the links between the perceived coaching behaviors and athletes' competitive anxiety. Relevant instruments were implemented to 266 athletes.The results of data analysis revealed that most of the dimensions of coaching behaviors perceived by athletes were significantly cor- related to athletes' competitive anxiety.Athletes' sport confidence either fully or partially me- diated the associations between the perceived dimensions of coaching behaviors and athletes' competitive anxiety.The cognitive style of athletes significantly moderated the associations be- tween training and instruction behaviors, democratic behaviors, autocratic behaviors of coaches perceived by the athletes and athletes' competitive anxiety.