the sport team as an effective group mark a. eys, shauna m. burke, paul dennis, and blair evans...

Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Sport Team As an Effective Group Mark A. Eys, Shauna M. Burke, Paul Dennis,

and Blair Evans

Chapter 7

“I can tell you one thing, and this is the great thing about this team: no matter how many good players we’ve got, the team spirit is unbelievable. We are like a family and every time we come here, we are not even thinking about who is going to play the game. It’s all about whoever is on the pitch just giving everything.”

Belgian fullback Vincent Kompany


Introduction

• Membership and involvement in a group is a fundamental characteristic of our society• Each of us interacts daily with

numerous other people in group settings • Family, work, social situations, sport

teams

• We exert influence on other people in groups and, in turn, those groups and their members have an influence on us


Nature of Sport Groups

“Every group is like all other groups, like some other groups, and like no other group.”

- Carron & Hausenblas

• Groups are simultaneously common and unique


Definition of Sport Groups (Teams)

“A collection of two or more individuals who possess a common identity, have common goals and objectives, share a common fate, exhibit structured patterns of interaction and modes of communication, hold common perceptions about group structure, are personally and instrumentally interdependent, reciprocate interpersonal attraction, and consider themselves to be a group.”

- Carron & Eys (1998)

Definitional Categories for Groups

1. Common identity2. Common goals or objectives3. Common fate4. Structured pattern of

interaction5. Group structure6. Personal and task

interdependence7. Interpersonal attraction

GROUPNESS

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McGraw-Hill Education.

Group Cohesion• Cohesion is the most important small

group variable • Need a sense of “we”• It is multidimensional • Why a group sticks together and remains

“united in the pursuit of its instrumental objectives and/or for the satisfaction of member affective needs” – Carron, Brawley, and Widmeyer



Cohesion Depends on Perception• Perception can come from a group’s members or other

groups• Unity within a group manifests in two principal ways:

in relation to the group’s task and in terms of the social aspects of the unit• Additionally, cohesion for individuals depends on:• Group integration – Each individual’s perceptions of the

group as a total unit, set, or collection• Individual attractions to the group – Each individual's

personal attractions to the group


Group Cohesion

Task Social

Group

Integration

Group

Integration

Individual

Attractions to the Group

Individual

Attractions to the Group

Correlates of Cohesiveness

Personal Factors

Team Factors

Environmental Factors

Leadership Factors

Cohesion in

Sport Teams



Environmental Factors• Proximity• Individuals physically closer tend to bond together (locker

room, dorm, travel, classes, etc.)• Size• Moderate sized groups show greatest cohesion, and larger

and smaller groups exhibited the least (Inverted-U relationship)


Personal Factors• Characteristics, beliefs, or behaviors of group

members• Satisfaction

• Comes from feeling valued and competent, social relations, recognition from others, relationship with coach, etc.

• Competitive state anxiety• Athletes who perceive their teams to be higher in task

cohesion experience less cognitive anxiety• Social loafing

• Individuals tend to decrease the amount of effort they expend when completing a group task compared to the amount of effort expended when alone


Leadership factors• Interrelationships among the coach, the athlete,

cohesiveness, and performance are complex• Some coaching factors can influence the level of

cohesion:• Decision style• Stronger cohesion when team members

are allowed to participate in decision making

Team Factors

•Cohesion is influenced by:• Structural characteristics• Roles and norms

• Processes that take place between group members • Group goals, communication

• Group performance outcomes

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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.Education.


Team Factors: Roles• A set of behaviors that are expected from

the occupants of specific positions within the group• Formal roles• Explicitly set up by the group,

individuals are trained for these roles• Coach, team captain, and manager

• Informal roles• The result of the interactions that take

place among group members, not assigned• Leader, task booster, enforcer, mentor,

team clown, etc.

Role Clarity vs. Ambiguity• Role ambiguity• Lack of clear consistent information regarding one’s role

• To prevent ambiguity, athletes must understand the major aspects of their role:

1. Scope of responsibilities2. Behaviors necessary to successfully fulfill role responsibilities3. How role performance will be evaluated4. Consequences of unfulfilled role responsibilities



Role Acceptance

• The whole team needs to be on the same page with respect to their collective goal• The individual athlete will better understand

their role responsibilities• Everyone on the team needs to fulfill their

role so they team can succeed

• To encourage role acceptance, coaches should minimize the status differences among roles



Other Role Elements• Elements of role involvement that are important to

group environment and contributors to cohesiveness• Role efficacy• Athlete’s beliefs about capabilities to carry out role

responsibilities• Role conflict• Athlete’s perceptions of incongruent expectations

• Role overload• Athlete has too many role expectations

• Role satisfaction• How happy the athlete is with their given role(s)


Team Factors: Norms• Standard for behavior that is expected of members of

the group• May be task irrelevant or task relevant

• Reflects the group's consensus about behaviors that are considered acceptable


Norms (cont.)

• Four contexts in which norms exist• Competition• Practice• Off-season• Socially

• Important norms within those contexts:

Put maximum effort toward task

Support each other Continue training and

maintain contactAttend social eventsRespect for each other


Relationship Between Group Norms and Group Cohesiveness

Development of norms

Development of cohesiveness

STABILITY


Team Factors: Group Processes• Group processes• Establish group goals and rewards• Communication • Circular relationship to cohesiveness


Team Factor: Performance Outcome• Cohesiveness contributes to performance success,

and performance success increases cohesiveness• Task cohesion AND social cohesion

Team Building

• Strategies to help members work together more effectively• Provides meaningful experiences

that lead to a greater sense of unity• Use team building for both task and

social purposes• Might be direct or indirect



Team Building Approach• The Spink and Carron approach • An indirect intervention process

1. Introductory stage2. Conceptual stage3. Practical stage4. Intervention stage

• Steps 1-3 occur during coach-sport psychology specialist interactions• Coach learns about group dynamics

and preps strategies to develop cohesion within his or her team


Stages of Team Building• Introduction stage• Sport psychologist provides a brief overview of the

general benefits of group cohesion• Conceptual stage• Sport psychologist teaches coach about the various

components of the team building protocol • Helps coach identify key areas to focus efforts


Stages of Team Building (cont.)

• Practical stage• Coaches engage in an interactive brainstorming session• Generate specific team building strategies

• Coach must be involved because:a) Personality and preferenceb) What is effective with one group may be

ineffective with another groupc) Controls protocol, which increases

investment


Additional Team Building Approaches• Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing intervention

(PDMS)• Sport psychology specialists ask team members to write a

passage that answers a personal question about their sport involvement • The specialist leads a team meeting where members read

their passage aloud• Demands a high level of responsibility to ensure that the

statements remain confidential


Additional Team Building Approaches• Mastery Approach to Coaching (MAC)• Ideal for youth sport settings• MAC protocol for team building is based on the expectation

that positive and task-oriented coaching behaviors enable positive group environments

Additional Team Building Approaches• Sport psychology specialists might include athletes as

active contributors to team building strategies



the sport team as an effective group mark a. eys, shauna m. burke, paul dennis, and blair evans...

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