Small Group Research, Vol. 36, No. 2, 166-187 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1046496404266715
© 2005 SAGE Publications
Exploring the Potential Disadvantages of High Cohesion in Sports Teams
James Hardy
Mark A. Eys
Albert V. Carron
University of Western Ontario
In the present study, a heterogeneous sample of 105 athletes (mean age = 21.4 years) was used to gain insight into the potential negative consequences of high team cohesion. Athletes were asked open-ended questions relating to the potential disadvantages of high task and high social cohesion. It was found that 56% of athletes reported possible disadvantages to high social cohesion, whereas 31% of athletes reported possible disadvantages to high task cohesion. Furthermore, data analyses revealed multiple dimensions of negative consequences for both high task and social cohesion. More specifically, analysis of responses revealed both group- and personal-level consequences. The findings contrast with the popularly held view that high cohesion is always beneficial for teams and team members. It was suggested that future research assess the prevalence and importance of the disadvantages of high cohesion.
Key Words: cohesion • sport • athletes • consequences
Small Group Research, Vol. 28, No. 2, 294-301 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/1046496497282006© 1997 SAGE Publications
Cohesion and Work Output
Harry Prapavessis
University of Auckland
Albert V. Carron
University of Western Ontario
The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between group cohesion and individual work output (effort) in sport teams. Results showed that athletes who scored high on the Individual Attractions to the Group Task (AGT-T) Scale from the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ) worked harder (predicted from a bag of expired air at the end of training and expressed as apercentage relative to the maximal volume of oxygen consumption) than athletes who scored low on the ATG-T The results extend previous research that has shown that cohesion is positively associated with individual adherence in sport teams and exercise classes. Recommendations forfu
Small Group Research, Vol. 36, No. 5, 539-554 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1046496405275229
© 2005 SAGE Publications
Using a Multilevel Approach to Examine the Relationship between Task Cohesion and Team Task Satisfaction in Elite Ice Hockey Players
Kevin S. Spink University of Saskatchewan,
Darren Nickel University of Saskatchewan
Kathleen Wilson University of Saskatchewan
Pat Odnokon University of Saskatchewan
Of numerous studies conducted over the years examining cohesion in the sport setting, very few have acknowledged that participants are nested within teams, which has resulted in analysis of data at the individual level. Given that members of sport teams are interdependent, valuable information might be lost if constructs such as cohesion are examined only at an individual level. The purpose of this study was to illustrate how multilevel modeling could be used to handle this interdependence among observations within teams when examining the relationship between task cohesion and team satisfaction. Male ice hockey players (N = 194) on 10 teams completed the cohesion and satisfaction measures near the end of the regular season. Using multilevel analysis, task cohesion predicted variance in team task satisfaction at the individual (33%) and group (55%) levels. Results highlight the value of multilevel models as well as extend research finding a relationship between cohesion and individual satisfaction to team satisfaction.
Key Words: multilevel • Group Environment Questionnaire • team satisfaction • group level
Small Group Research, Vol. 32, No. 1, 3-18 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/104649640103200101
© 2001 SAGE Publications
Team Cohesion and Individual Productivity
The Influence of the Norm for Productivity and the Identifiability of Individual Effort
Kimberley L. Gammage University of Western Ontario
Albert V. Carron University of Western Ontario
Paul A. Estabrooks Kansas State University
This study investigated the potential moderating effects of productivity norms and identifiability of effort on the cohesion-performance relationship in team sports. The design was a 2 (high cohesion, low cohesion)x2 (high productivity norm, low productivity norm)x2 (high identifiability of an individual's effort, low identifiability of an individual's effort) factorial. Each participant (n = 324) read one of eight scenarios, with cohesion, norms, and identifiability systematically rotated, and indicated the probability that the individual would train during the off-season. An ANOVA showed a main effect for cohesion, F(1, 316) = 113.44, p < .0001, and norms, F(1, 316) = 19.61, p < .0001), and an interaction between cohesion and norms, F(1, 316) = 7.35, p = .007. The probability of off-season training was significantly higher for the high-cohesion-high-norms scenario than for the high-cohesion-low-norms scenario, with no differences under conditions of low cohesion. Directions for future research are discussed.
DOI: 10.1177/1046496406294545
© 2006 SAGE Publications
Member Diversity and Cohesion and Performance in Walking Groups
Kim M. Shapcott
Albert V. Carron
Shauna M. Burke
University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Michael H. Bradshaw Kansas State University, Manhattan
Paul A. Estabrooks Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver
The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship of group member diversity in task-related attributes (i.e., self-efficacy, level of previous physical activity, and personal goals) and task-unrelated attributes (i.e., ethnicity and gender) to task cohesiveness and task performance in walking groups (N varied from 1,324 to 1,392 groups for the analyses). For the task-related attributes, diversity in level of previous physical activity was significantly related to both task cohesion and group performance-as diversity increased, cohesion and performance decreased. For the task-unrelated attributes, diversity in gender was related to task cohesion-as diversity increased, cohesion decreased. Gender diversity was unrelated to group performance. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the dynamics of task-oriented groups.
Key Words: goals • self-efficacy • physical activity • group composition
taskoriented groups • gender • ethnicity
Small Group Research, Vol. 37, No. 3, 217-232 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1046496406287311
© 2006 SAGE Publications
The Relationship Between Group Cohesion, Group Norms, and Perceived Social Loafing in Soccer Teams
Rune Høigaard Agder University College,
Reidar Säfvenbom Norwegian School of Sport Sciences
Finn Egil Tønnessen University of Stavanger
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between group cohesion, group norms, and perceived social loafing among 118 soccer players playing junior league in Norway. Each player completed a questionnaire assessing group cohesion (task cohesion and social cohesion), team norms (productive norms, role involvement, and social support norms), and perceived social loafing. As predicted, all cohesion- and team-norm subscales were negatively correlated with perceived social loafing. Furthermore, the results showed that the players' attraction to their team's task as well as their perception of the productive- and social-support norm predicted perceptions of social loafing. A significant three-way interaction between task cohesion, social cohesion, and performance norm emerged. The analysis showed that the combination of high social cohesion, low task cohesion, and low team norms seems to underlie perceptions of social loafing.
Key Words: group cohesion • team cohesion • perceived social loafing
Small Group Research, Vol. 32, No. 5, 576-594 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/104649640103200504
© 2001 SAGE Publications
Situational Coaching Styles
The Impact of Success and Athlete Maturity Level on Coaches' Leadership Styles Over Time
Paul D. Turman University of Northern Iowa
This investigation examines athletes' preferences and perceptions and coaches' perceptions of leadership styles used throughout an athletic season. The review of literature identified an existing limitation to current examinations of coaching styles. Past researchers failed to include time as a potential variable affecting athletes' preferences and perceptions of their coaches' use of five leadership styles: autocratic, democratic, social support, positive feedback, and training and instruction. The participants for this study included 155 varsity wrestlers and 17 coaches. Athletes and coaches completed instruments three times during the season, and repeated measures procedures computed for the two primary research questions indicated significant differences for each. When examining the impact of athlete experience level, results indicated only athletes' perceptions of their coaches' social support styles are affected by the athletes' experience level across time. Also, athletes' perceptions of their coaches' autocratic leadership styles for successful and unsuccessful teams were significantly different at the end of the season.
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 13, No. 2, 51-65 (1978)
DOI: 10.1177/101269027801300204
© 1978 International Sociology of Sport Association and SAGE Publications
Role Behavior and the Coach-Athlete Interaction
Albert V. Carron
The characteristic role behaviors for both coaches and athletes in the athletic situation in the need areas of inclusion, control and affection were defined by coaches (N=40). Two modified versions of Schutz's FIRO-B were utilized. The results indicated that coaches and athletes were in complete agreement concerning the perceived role behaviors for both coaches and athletes. Coaches were perceived as the initiators of control; athletes, the recipients. Both coaches and athletes were perceived as being relatively passive in regards to initiating interactions (inclusion behavior) and de veloping warm personal relations (affection behavior). These latter two characteristics could contribute naturally to an incompatibility in the coach-athlete interaction.
NASSP Bulletin, Vol. 60, No. 403, 36-41 (1976)
DOI: 10.1177/019263657606040305
© 1976 National Association of Secondary School Principals
The Principal as Coach
Kenneth L. Fish
Roosevelt High School, Yonkers, N. Y.
School leaders, Fish notes, may be able to profit from a closer look at the coach's bag of tricks to see what they can apply to their own work in developing staff commitment.
The Journal of Early Adolescence, Vol. 21, No. 2, 228-248 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/0272431601021002005
© 2001 SAGE Publications
Goal Orientations of Adolescents, Coaches, and Parents:
Is there a Convergence of Beliefs?
Karen B. Givvin University of California, Los Angeles
The relations between the goal orientations of adolescents and those of their coaches and parents were examined in this study. Ninety swimmers, 12 through 15 years of age, coaches (N = 10), and parents (N = 71) completed the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) with regard to the adolescents' participation in swimming. Adolescents completed the TEOSQ two additional times: once as they thought their coaches would respond and again as they thought their parents would respond. The self-reported goal orientations of adolescents were correlated highly with their perceptions of the goal orientations of their significant adults but not with the self-reports of significant adults. Adolescents believed that the way they thought and felt about their swimming was more affected by their coaches than by their parents. Comparisons of goal orientations across gender and suggestions for further studies are discussed.
Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Vol. 21, No. 2, 134-155 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/019372397021002003
© 1997 SAGE Publications
MALE COACH/FEMALE ATHLETE RELATIONS: GENDER AND POWER RELATIONS IN COMPETITIVE SPORT
Alan Tomlinson
Ilkay Yorganci
This article reports participation observation evidence, questionnaire survey, and in-depth interview data in an examination of the male coach / female athlete relationship in competitive sport. Focusing on athletics in the United Kingdom, the authors demonstrate the gendered nature of female athlete / male coach relationships, and the dynamics of power and control that contribute to the nature and perpetuation of those relationships. The vulnerability of the young female athlete in the coaching situation is identified, as that vulnerability is manifest in a variety of forms of sexist practice and sexual harassment. The article points to the complexity and normalcy of the organizational sexuality characteristic of the sports culture and the forms of domination and control that can be exerted by the coach. Sports professionals are urged to recognize the serious implications of the gender and power relations underpinning the male coach / female athlete dynamic in competitive sport.
Management Learning, Vol. 37, No. 4, 475-497 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1350507606070221
© 2006 SAGE Publications
Executive Coaching: Towards a Dynamic Alliance of Psychotherapy and Transformative Learning Processes
David E. Gray University of Surrey, UK
Coaching is emerging as a major professional development and performance enhancement process. There are, however, few professional development programmes aimed at coaches themselves, and no internationally recognized qualification or professional standard. Much of the literature on coaching has been written by those with a human psychology perspective, and particularly psychotherapeutic approaches to support. Yet some psychotherapeutic processes assume longer term relationships between the coach and the coachee. Many businesses and managers themselves, however, seek focused solutions to immediate problems. This article offers adult learning theory, and specifically transformative learning, as an alternative or parallel theoretical model for underpinning the coaching processes. All coaches, however, need to be aware that the coaching process may open up deep-seated anxieties, some of which are more appropriately addressed by a psychotherapeutic approach. Hence, a dynamic network model of coaching is proposed, in which psychotherapists and non-therapists collaborate to facilitate their mutual professional coaching development, learning and support.
Key Words: adult learning theory • coaching networks • executive coaching • management learning • psychotherapy • reflection • transformative learning
Advances in Developing Human Resources, Vol. 10, No. 1, 104-121 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1523422307310117
© 2008 SAGE Publications
Improving the Evidence Base for Career Development Programs
Making Use of the Evaluation Profession and Positive Psychology Movement
Hallie Preskill School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University
Stewart I. Donaldson School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University
The problem and the solution. Though much has been written on the topic of career development, the human resource development field has paid little attention to the ways in which career development programs are evaluated.The lack of sound evidence for the effectiveness of career development interventions may be because of the overreliance on Kirkpatrick's ubiquitous evaluation approach or that traditional research methods such as experimental and quasi-experimental designs are not appropriate or feasible in many organizational settings. In this article, we describe the growing profession and practice of evaluation and discuss how the positive psychology movement provides new insights into how career development programs may be evaluated.
Key Words: evaluation • positive psychology • appreciative inquiry
Human Relations, Vol. 56, No. 9, 1131-1154 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0018726703569005
© 2003 The Tavistock Institute
A Coach or a Couch? A Lacanian Perspective on Executive Coaching and Consulting
Gilles Arnaud
At a time when competition in the workplace is becoming more and more individual, ruthless and widespread, managers are in turn being solicited more personally. That is why the market for psychologically oriented executive coaching is exploding nowadays. This article aims at extracting the main teachings of this change in perspective, in order to pave the way for a methodology of psychoanalytic coaching, that is directly inspired by the work of Jacques Lacan. The objective of this exploratory form of mentorship is to satisfy the explicit needs of the clients, along with their relational expectations and unconscious desir
Key Words: executive coaching • Lacanian theory • management • psychoanalysis
Human Relations, Vol. 39, No. 12, 1067-1081 (1986)
DOI: 10.1177/001872678603901201
© 1986 The Tavistock Institute
Effects of Different Leader Behaviors under Different Levels of Task Interdependence
Louis W. Fry University of Washington
Steven Kerr University of Southern California
Cynthia Lee Temple University
Three hypotheses were developed and tested relating the moderating effects of interdependence between leader behaviors and satisfaction and performance. Results from a survey of 419 participants on 22 teams in eight sports revealed strong support for the performance hypotheses, but not for the satisfaction hypotheses. Winning coaches of high interdependence sports teams were described as exhibiting significantly greater leader-initiating structure than losing high interdependence coaches. Also, winning coaches of high interdependence teams exhibited significantly more leader-initiating structure and significantly less leader consideration than winning coaches of low interdependence teams.
European Physical Education Review, Vol. 12, No. 3, 273-287 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1356336X06069274
© 2006 North West Counties Physical Education Association, SAGE Publications
A school-based movement programme for children with motor learning difficulty
Juha-Pekka Männistö University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Marja Cantell University of Jyväskylä, Finland; University of Calgary, Canada
Tommi Huovinen University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Libbe Kooistra University of Jyväskylä, Finland; University of Calgary, Canada
Dawne Larkin University of Western Australia, Australia
The study investigated the effectiveness of a school-based movement programme for a population of 5 to 7 year old children. Performance profiles on the Movement ABC were used to classify the children and to assess skill changes over time. Children were assigned to four different groups: motor learning difficulty (n = 10), borderline motor learning difficulty (n = 5), trained controls (n = 9), untrained controls (n = 9). The total programme consisted of 26 weekly sessions. Each one-hour session comprised of structured group play, individualized skill training, and relaxation. The results showed that children with motor learning difficulty improved consistently in the targeted skills. Most importantly, the obtained effects persisted beyond the actual intervention. The findings emphasize the effectiveness of task-oriented approaches in a school-based setting for children with motor learning difficulty.
Key Words: motor learning difficulty • school-based intervention • task-oriented approach
