Revisiting the leadership scale for sport: Examining factor structure through exploratory structural equation modeling

This study examines the factor structure of the shortened version of the Leadership Scale for Sport, through a survey of 201 collegiate swimmers at National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II and III institutions, using both exploratory structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis. Both exploratory structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis showed that a five-factor solution fit the data adequately. The sizes of factor loadings on target factors substantially differed between the confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling solutions. In addition, the inter-correlations between factors of the Leadership Scale for Sport and the correlations with athletes’ satisfaction were found to be inflated in the confirmatory factor analysis solution. Overall, the findings provide evidence of the factorial validity of the shortened Leadership Scale for Sport.