Abstract
While some investigative research has been conducted to examine the impact of toxic, or destructive, leadership in sport, few studies have focused on intercollegiate athletics departments. The purpose of this study was to examine how common toxic leadership is in intercollegiate athletics departments as well as its impact. A quantitative cross-sectional survey study was designed to examine NCAA Division I and II athletics employee experiences using the Toxic Triangle of Sport Management (TToSM) as a theoretical framework. Respondents (N = 2,051) were asked questions concerning their perceptions of work environments, leadership, and organizational culture procured from three distinct and well-established scales, including a modified version of the Toxic Leadership Scale (MVTLS), the Perceived Organizational Support Scale (POSS-s), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). While the majority of respondents did not consider their workplace to be toxic, significant differences (p
Recommended Citation
Tietjen-Smith, Tara and Blount, Haley
(2026)
"The Impact of Toxic Leadership on Intercollegiate Athletics: Gender-Differentiated Perceptions,"
Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics: Vol. 19:
Iss.
1, Article 21.
DOI: 10.51221/sc.jiia.2026.19.1.21
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/jiia/vol19/iss1/21