How does need satisfaction mediate the relation between harmonious passion and positive affect in coaches and athletes? A dyadic longitudinal study in coach-athlete dyads

Previous research has linked harmonious passion to positive affect in both coaches and athletes. Additionally, need satisfaction is suggested to mediate this relationship. However, these studies often relied on cross-sectional designs or failed to account for the inherent dyadic relationship between coaches and athletes. Addressing these limitations, our study combines a longitudinal design with a dyadic perspective to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the processes underlying positive affect in coaches and athletes. Using the longitudinal actor-partner interdependence mediation model, we investigated actor and partner effects for coaches and athletes at both the between- and within-person level. Our findings reveal that, for both coaches and athletes, their own harmonious passion is positively associated with their own positive affect at both the between- and within-person level. Notably, for coaches, this relationship is partly mediated by their own need satisfaction. Moreover, we found preliminary evidence for partner effects through coaches’ need satisfaction at both the between- and within-person level. In summary, the longitudinal design suggests that harmonious passion is important for both coaches and athletes, not only in terms of between-person differences but also in terms of changes within an individual over a season. Additionally, the dyadic perspective yields valuable insights into potential partner effects via coaches’ need satisfaction.