POSITIVE RESPONSES TO BEHAVIORS INCREASE THE INFLUENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COACH

French, J. R., & Raven, B. (1959). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in social power (pp. 150-167). Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.

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Applicable to the rewarding coach. "The use of reward fosters approach responses toward the power figure and increases his [sic] attractiveness on secondary reward value through the repeated association of his attributes with positive reinforcement. Attractiveness is assumed to extend the controller's power a wide range of behavior".

Implication. A coach who is a "positive rewarder" not only improves his/her influence over the rewarded behaviors but also influences behaviors not rewarded or yet to occur. A positive coach's influence will extend to areas other than just the sport.

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