Psychological well-being of sports managers: differences between experienced and future managers and the influence of gender, age, and family status

Radu Predoiu (Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, National University of Physical Education and Sport, Romania.)
Luca Mihai Grozav (Hipnosis Trading, Bucharest, Romania.)
Gabriela Szabo (Advanced Medical and Pharmaceutical Research Center, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology, Romania.)
Mihai Ciolacu (Faculty of Letters and Sciences, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiești, Ploiești, Romania.)
Andrzej Piotrowski (Institute of Psychology, University of Gdańsk, Poland.)
Davide de Gennaro (Department of Medical, Exercise and Wellbeing Sciences, University "Parthenope" of Naples, Italy.)
Răzvan Marian Bucătaru (Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, “Dunărea de jos” University of Galați, Romania.)

INSPIREE: Indonesian Sport Innovation Review
Vol. 7 No. 02 (2026): Contemporary Innovations in Sport Science and Physical Education

The  purpose  of  the study. The study had two main aims: to compare the psychological well-being in experienced sports managers and future managers, and to examine how age, gender, marital status, and parental status are influencing the perceived well-being among experienced sports managers. Materials and methods. Sixty-one participants took part in the research, aged between 21 and 60 years, 40 male and 21 female managers (in the entire sample), of which 28 experienced sports managers (with a mean of 7.57 years in a managerial position) and 33 future sports managers. The Well-Being Assessment (Adult – 24 items) was used to measure eight facets of psychological well-being. Results. After independent t-test was performed, significant differences were found for Life Satisfaction and Life Evaluation (p = 0.024), respectively for Financial Evaluation and Stability (p < 0.001) between the two groups of managers, with experienced sports managers reporting higher scores. A series of Mann–Whitney (U) tests were conducted among experienced sports managers, to verify how gender, age, marital status and parental status are influencing managers’ psychological well-being. Conclusions. Female sports managers scored higher than experienced male managers for Character and Caring, and regarding the Financial Evaluation and Stability facet of well-being. Marital and parental status showed only subtle, non-significant trends in specific domains such as Life Satisfaction and Life Evaluation, Financial Evaluation and Stability, respectively Meaning and Purpose, while the younger group of sports managers reported higher scores on Character and Caring.