An examination of the cohesion-performance relationship in university hockey teams.
The objective of this study was to assess, using the Group Environment Questionnaire, whether team cohesion in university-level field hockey was a cause for, or an effect of, successful performance. A quasi-experimental longitudinal design with cross-lagged correlational analysis was adopted and measures of cohesion and performance were taken midway and later in the season. The results of the synchronous correlations showed a positive relationship (with good stationarity) between team cohesion and performance outcome. Although non-significant cross-lagged differentials indicated a circular relationship, the magnitudes of both the cross-lagged correlations and the partial correlations, together with multiple-regression analyses, revealed that the stronger flow was from cohesion to performance. The socially oriented aspects of cohesion, in particular, had significant associations with performance. The results imply that cohesion-performance relationships should be examined within a circular model, in which cohesion and performance are interdependent.
Slater
M R
MR
Department of Psychology, University of Hull, UK.
Sewell
D F
DF
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006688:Hockey / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012919:Social Behavior; D012928:Social Desirability; D012932:Social Facilitation; D012938:Social Perception; D014495:Universities