From leadership research to district action: The mediating role of isolation and marginalization in the effect of trust in school principals on organizational commitment: physical education and sports teachers

AI-assisted editorial implementation guide. Proposed district actions are separate from the original authors’ findings and recommendations. Independent peer review of this guide is not asserted.

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Evidence and transfer

Education-related source: verify which participants, institutions and outcomes were actually studied before district adoption. Source publication type: research-article. License and identity checks do not establish study quality or causality.

Original authors’ abstract, reproduced under the source license:

Purpose This study examines how teachers' perceptions of their principal's trust in them are associated with their organizational commitment, with a particular focus on the mediating role of marginalization and isolation. Methodology Data were collected from 247 physical education and sports teachers using validated instruments measuring perceived principal trust, organizational commitment, and marginalization and isolation. Confirmatory factor analysis and bootstrap mediation analyses were conducted. Results The findings revealed that perceived principal trust was positively associated with organizational commitment and negatively associated with marginalization and isolation. Higher levels of perceived trust corresponded with lower feelings of marginalization and isolation, which in turn were linked to more substantial organizational commitment. The indirect effect of marginalization and isolation was statistically significant, providing support for the mediation hypothesis. Conclusion Acknowledging the study's cross-sectional design, the results suggest that leadership practices aimed at enhancing teachers' perception of being trusted are crucial for mitigating feelings of marginalization and fostering organizational commitment. Practical implications involve promoting leadership behaviors that not only build trust but also actively and clearly signal it, thereby creating a more inclusive and supportive school environment where all teachers feel valued. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-025-03504-3.

Study methods

This study investigates the effect of school principals’ trust in physical education and sports teachers on their commitment to the organization. In addition, the mediating role of marginalization and isolation in this effect is examined. From this point of view, the research was conducted in the relational survey model, which is one of the quantitative research methods used to determine the relationships between two or more variables [51]. The theoretical model to be tested in the research is presented in Fig. 1.

Limitations

First, the study’s generalizability is constrained by its sampling methodology. The use of a non-probability convenience sampling method means that the sample is not fully representative of all physical education teachers in Turkey, which limits the external validity of the results. Furthermore, the sample is characterized by a notable gender imbalance, with a significantly higher proportion of male participants (71.3%). While this may, to some extent, reflect the historically male-dominated nature of the physical education specialization in Turkey, it cannot be ruled out that this disparity is also an artifact of the sampling method. This imbalance restricts the generalizability of the findings, particularly concerning the experiences of female teachers. The voluntary nature of participation may also have introduced a selection bias, as teachers with stronger opinions or different motivation levels might have been more inclined to participate.

A 90-day district inquiry

Days 1–15 · Appraise. Read the source methods, recruitment, comparator, outcomes and limitations. Record how the study setting differs from your district and which claim the design can support.
Days 16–30 · Design. Choose one school improvement question with teachers. Protect a short shared planning cycle, agree an instructional change and use a common rubric for examining student work. Agree participation, privacy protections, baseline and stopping rules before starting.
Days 31–60 · Observe. Collect the pre-agreed measures, keep a log of implementation changes and invite confidential voluntary feedback. Preserve existing support for staff and learners.
Days 61–90 · Decide. Review implementation fidelity, teacher time and independently scored student work against a recorded baseline. Examine access differences and competing explanations before attributing changes to leadership. Make a dated decision to stop, revise or extend the inquiry.

Board decision brief

Present the local problem, source setting, evidence limits, intervention, responsible owner, total cost, measured changes and uncertainty. Separate staff perceptions, implementation measures and student learning outcomes.

Attribution and reuse

Emrah Seçer; Ahmet Yavuz Malli; Hasan Buğra Eki̇nci̇; Oğuz Kaan Esentürk. The mediating role of isolation and marginalization in the effect of trust in school principals on organizational commitment: physical education and sports teachers. BMC Psychology (2025-10-16). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03504-3

Prepared 2026-11-07. Source authorship and DOI are preserved. The abstract and source passages are attributed extracts; this editorial guide is offered under the same CC BY 4.0 license.