Elite sport performance/Group dynamics/Team culture and distinctiveness

Group cohesion

Team cohesion, a term derived from a Latin word meaning “to stick together,” describes the tendency of teams to remain united, especially when faced with adversity or when results go against them. There are a couple of different ways to think about the cohesiveness of a sports team.

One way is to consider what attracts individuals to the team. Let's take the New York Yankees baseball team as an example; players are attracted to the team because of its distinct culture and iconic identity, excellent system of coaching, and wonderful tradition of success.

Another way to think about the cohesiveness of a team is to consider its resistance to disruptive forces. In other words, when negative situations occur does the team show resilience, avoid internal conflict, and work as a group to overcome the issues? As an example, in the 2014-15 English Premier League, Arsenal had their worst start to the season in 32 years. By remaining united, the team managed to win the FA Cup and comfortably qualify for European football, despite a host of injuries and some poor defensive performances early on that would have derailed many less cohesive teams.

Social cohesion and task cohesion

When talking about group cohesion, a sport psychologist may describe two forms of cohesion:

• Social cohesion refers to how well a team bonds together on a social level. Do they like each other? Do they socialise together? Are they friends? Is interpersonal conflict rare?
• Task cohesion refers to how the team comes together to do their job. Do they train together effectively? Are team tactics and strategies well understood and executed efficiently? Does everyone know their individual role and understand how it fits into the bigger picture?

A cohesive team

Reflection

In a sport of your choice, can you think of examples of teams that display these qualities:

• Have a common purpose.
• Have positive relationships and friendships.
• Are both socially and task cohesive.
• Have experienced changes in cohesiveness over time.

Measuring group cohesion

Sport psychologists use various techniques to assess group cohesion. One of the most common is the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ; Carron, Brawley, & Widmeyer, 2002). The questionnaire assesses cohesion via the perceptions of individual team members. Specifically, the GEQ quantifies individual attractions to the group and group integration for both task and social dimensions:

• Interpersonal attractions to the group task: “I like the style of play on this team.”
• Interpersonal attractions to the social group: “Some of my best friends are on this team.”
• Group task integration: “Our team is united to reach its goals for performance.”
• Group social integration: “Our team would like to spend time together in the off season.”

Responses to questions of this nature provide a sport psychologist with insights into team cohesiveness, identifying perceptions of team functioning at task and social levels.

Factors influencing team cohesion

Many things influence group cohesion. In particular, cohesion and performance share a circular relationship, whereby cohesive teams tend to perform better and success brings the team even closer together. Of course, the reverse circle can apply, whereby bitter defeats fracture team cohesion and these divisions further diminish performance.

Let's consider some of the other factors that influence team cohesion.

Environmental factors

Environmental factors include:

• Physical proximity: Spending time training, playing, and living together will inevitably influence team cohesion usually, although not always, for the better. Sharing a room together in an Olympic Village or interacting closely in a training camp environment will typically serve to enhance cohesion. Sports teams that travel on overseas tours together, such as the British & Irish Lions rugby team, often become extremely tightly-knit units (see Living With The Lions).
• Group size: An optimal group size is associated with strong cohesiveness. The group should be large enough to achieve high task cohesion, but small enough to maintain social cohesion. For example, if too many reserve players remain in the group but cannot participate, they will tend to feel left out and become demotivated, which may spread to others in the group.
• Contractual responsibilities: In professional sports when players' contracts are subject to renewal or transfer to another team, group cohesion can be threatened, particularly if individual players feel disenfranchised or undervalued compared to team mates.
• Team distinctiveness: This is what sets one team apart from others. The distinctive symbols of a team bind group members together to create a sense of identity and belonging. They include team slogans, team uniform, team songs, team values, and expectations of how to behave.

Activity

Symbols of team distinctiveness

The baggy green cap, worn by Australian cricketing legend Glen McGrath in the picture on the right, is an example of something that gives a team its distinctiveness. Only cricketers who play a test match for Australia ever receive a baggy green cap and it is worn with great pride. Many cricketers never replace their cap, which can become quite battered towards the end of a career. A debutant is presented with his cap before the start of play by an experienced former player with the whole team gathered around to congratulate him, as you can see in the video linked below.

• Joe Burns receives his Baggy Green cap from legend Bill Lawry to become Australia's 441st Test cricketer.

Can you think of other examples of team distinctiveness? It might be an item of uniform, a team song, a pre- or post-game ritual, or something else. Perhaps you were part of a team with its own distinctive features. Share your examples on the discussion forum below.

• Examples of team distinctiveness

Personal factors

Personal characteristics of individual group members inevitably influence group cohesion. As well as the more obvious personal characteristics, including age, gender, personality, skill level, and sport experiences, other personal factors influence team cohesion:

• Satisfaction: Individual satisfaction is a predictor of group cohesion. The more satisfaction that individual athletes derive from their experiences within a team, the more likely the team is to be cohesive.
• Shared perceptions: Similarities in attitudes, beliefs, and motives for participating will contribute to team cohesion. By the same token, being part of a cohesive team will tend to promote shared perceptions across the group. This can have negative consequences, referred to as groupthink, where decision-making lacks critical appraisal.
• Social loafing: This refers to when individuals exert less effort in a group setting than they would if working alone. They may feel that their relative lack of effort will go unnoticed or assume that a team mate will compensate by working harder. Unsurprisingly social loafing is less common in cohesive teams.
• Cultural similarity: It was once thought that teams who were similar in terms of race or cultural background were more likely to be cohesive. More recent research has suggested that this is not the case and that diversity is not necessarily a barrier to cohesion.

Leadership factors

Leadership factors refer to relationships between those with positions of influence and the other members of the group:

• Quality of relationship: If the team coach or captain has a good relationship with the team then group cohesion is more likely. In some circumstances a team may become cohesive in the sense that they are united against the coach and exclude him or her from decision making. This type of player power is unlikely to lead to success.
• Leadership style and decision making: Although there is endless debate about the characteristics of great leaders, sports teams are generally more cohesive when the leadership style is consultative and democratic. Producing task cohesion requires some degree of direct instruction about tactics and required behaviours, but in the words of legendary basketball coach, the late John Wooden, a good coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.

Team factors

Team factors refer to the structures and processes of the group:

• Group norms: All teams have explicit or implicit rules such as turning up to training on time or singing the team song after a victory. Conformity to group norms of behaviour is highest among cohesive teams.
• Team status: A prominent team member who starts every game will tend to have stronger perceptions of team cohesion than a reserve or bench player. However, in successful teams the less prominent members are made to feel that their contributions are highly valued, and develop a stronger sense of team cohesion as a result.