اکبر جابری

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of organizational support on life satisfaction and job satisfaction of female coaches in Isfahan with the mediating role of work-family conflict. Methods:  It was a descriptive – field study and a practical one. The research population was female coaches in Isfahan and 206 coaches in sport complexes were selected through convenience sampling. Cammann’s questionnaire (1983) was used to evaluate job satisfaction, and Diener et al.'s (1985) questionnaire was used to measure life satisfaction. Netemeyer et al.’s questionnaire (1996) was used to assess work-family conflict, and organizational support scale of Eizenberger et al. (1996) was used for measuring organizational support. The reliability of questionnaire was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha; and content, face and structural validity were also conducted to investigate the questionnaire validity. To measure the validity and fitness of the model, structural equation modeling by AMOS20 has been applied. Results: The findings demonstrated that “Organizational support” had a significant effect on “work-family conflict” (β= -0.37), “Job satisfaction” (β= 0.54), “Life satisfaction” (β= 0.48). In addition, “work-family conflict” had a significant effect on “Job satisfaction” (β= -0.31), and “Life satisfaction” (β= -0.26). Moreover, the Sobel test confirmed the role of the mediating variable. The fit indices also confirmed the research model fitness. Conclusion: According to the role of organizational support in decreasing the work-family conflict as well as the effect of work-family conflict on job satisfaction and life satisfaction, to pave the way for presence of females in sport field, sports organizations should plan their strategies by focusing on the concepts and results of this research.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of brand association on the brand positioning of football clubs in the Iranian premier league with the mediating role of fan-team identification. The present study is a descriptive and correlational study that has been conducted in the field. The research population of the study included football fans of popular football clubs in the Iranian premier league. Based on the formula for the SEM approach , 208 fans were selected through purposive sampling. Brand association, brand positioning, as well as fan-team identification Questionnaire, were used to collect data. The validity of the tool was calculated and confirmed based on content and structural validity, and the reliability was assessed according to Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability. Structural equation modeling via PLS was used to test the research hypotheses. The results showed that brand association had a significant effect on both brand positioning (β= 0.23) and fan-team identification (β= 0.31). The results also confirmed the positive and significant effect of fan-team identification on the brand positioning of football clubs in the Iranian premier league (β= 0.29). Moreover, based on the Sobel test, brand association through fan-team identification was effective on the brand positioning. The value of the GOF also indicated the proper fitness of the research model. This study is one of the few types of research that combines and examines brand associations, fan-team identification, and brand positioning through a comprehensive model in the field of Iranian sports.