Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Coaches' Decision-Making Behavior in Sport Situations

Objective: Based on the framework of prospect theory, this study compared the potential differences in decision-making between coaches and college students in sport situations, and analyzed the effects of age, gender, coaching experience, sport type, and coaching level on coaches' decision-making behavior. Methods: The Questionnaire on Decision-Making Behavior in Sports Situations was administered to 74 coaches (male=49, female=25) from various sports and with varying experience levels to investigate their decision-making characteristics in specific sport situations. The collected data were then compared with findings from previous studies. Results: Within the prospect theory framework, significant differences were found between coaches and college students in sport situation decision-making regarding representativeness bias (χ²=4.189, P=0.041), availability bias (χ²=28.909, P<0.001), anchoring effect (χ²=25.937, P<0.001), risk preference in the negative-framed domain (χ²=8.296, P=0.004), separation punishment in rule-based reward/punishment (χ²=20.967, P<0.001), as well as monetary reward (χ²=30.693, P<0.001) and punishment (χ²=26.890, P<0.001). Gender, coaching experience, sport type, and coaching level all had significant effects on some aspects of coaches' decision-making, with coaching experience showing the most pronounced differences. Conclusion and Suggestions: Prospect theory demonstrates high applicability in sport situations and coaches' decision-making behavior presents distinct professional characteristics. Future research may incorporate dynamic situational simulations to further explore the mechanisms underlying coaches' decision-making behavior and develop training programs for coaches' decision-making competence based on prospect theory.