Sport Psychology Skills 4.Group Cohesion Sport Psychology Skills

“Cohesion is the total field of forces which act on members to remain in the group” (Festinger et al., 1950) “Cohesion is a dynamic process which is reflected in the tendency for a group to stick together and remain united in the pursuit of its goals and objectives” (Carron, 1982)

Class of Forces Attractiveness of the group - individual’s desire for interpersonal interactions with other group members and a desire to be involved in the group e.g. The satisfaction gleaned from making friends within the group Means Control – refers to the benefits associated with being involved in the team e.g. Playing for a highly ranked college American football team might increase the athletes recognition and value in the draft

Dimensions of Cohesion Task Cohesion – the degree to which team members work together to achieve common goals e.g. winning the league Social Cohesion – degree to which members of a team like eachother e.g. Adherence to an exercise class is enhanced by the social cohesion of the class (Spink & Carron, 1992)

A Conceptual Model of Cohesion Carron’s (1984) conceptual model of cohesion provides a framework for systematically studying cohesion Carron identifies four major antecedents affective the development of cohesion in sports teams: Environmental Personal Leadership Team factors

Environmental Factors Will refer to the normatitive factors holding a group together Contracts, scholarships, parental expectations, geography ect. Rules and regulations regarding the environment in which they find themselves in

Environmental Factors Group Size – Smaller groups exhibit higher levels of cohesion then larger groups (Carron & Spink, 1995; Mullen & Cooper, 1994) Level of Competition – High school teams are more cohesive than collegiate teams (Granito & Rainey, 1988) Distinctiveness – Group that are unique display greater cohesion? Examples?

Personal Factors Refers to individual characteristics of group members Demographic attributions (e.g. member similarity, gender) Cognitions and motives (e.g. attributions for responsibility, anxiety) Behaviour (e.g. adherence, social loafing)

Personal Factors Carron & Dennis (2001)- individual satisfaction is the most important factor associated with development of task and social cohesion Widmeyer & Williams (1991) member satisfaction was best predictor for task and social cohesion in golf Similarity in terms of attitudes, commitments, aspirations, and expectation

Leadership Factors Leadership style and the behaviours they exhibit Relationships with players Clear, consistent, unambiguous communication from coaches sig influences cohesion (Brawley et al., 1993) Compatibility between members and leader also important (Carron & Chelladurai, 1981)

Team Factors Task Characteristics (e.g. individual vs. team) Group productivity norms, desire for group success, group roles, group position, and team stability Duration – Team who stay together longer have greater cohesion (Carron, 1982) Shared Experiences- of success and failure can unify a team to counter an opponent (Brawley, 1990) Collective Efficacy- Shared a common sense of confident in the team unit (Carron & Dennis, 2001)

A Conceptual Model of Cohesion Carron (1982) Environmental Factors Contractual responsibility Organisational orientation Personal Factors Individual orientation Satisfaction Individual differences Leadership Factors Leadership behaviour Leadership style Coach-Athlete personalities Team Factors Group task Desire for group success Group orientation Group productivity norm Team ability Team stability Group Outcomes Team stability Absolute performance effectiveness Relative performance effectiveness Individual Outcomes Behavioural consequences Absolute performance effectiveness Relative performance effectiveness Satisfaction Cohesion Task cohesion Social cohesion