| Abstrakt: |
Group dynamics is a pervasive concept in our society. Sports provide a relevant medium to test the importance of positive group dynamics (e.g., cohesion) to increase performance or success in any group setting. This study aims to examine the difference between cohesion and success in a highly interdependent sport, lacrosse, and a co-acting sport, tennis. There is also significant theoretical discourse that suggests teams of men and women function differently (Deboer, 2004), although Carron et al. (2002) did not find a sex difference in cohesion, sex-task type could have an influence on this finding. Tennis is not considered a "male" sport and men's and women's lacrosse are gendered iterations of the sport. The participants were 401 intercollegiate varsity athletes from 19 lacrosse (13 W, 7 M) teams and 10 tennis (6 W, 4 M) teams. The data from the teams was aggregated as established by Carron et al. (2002). Winning percentage was found to be highly correlated to social (r = .619, p < .001) and task cohesion (r = .846, p < .001). A MANOVA was conducted to determine differences in success and cohesion by sex and sport type. Sport type was found to be significant, Wilks's Λ, F(3, 23) = 4.37, p = .015, as was the interaction between sport and sex, Wilks's Λ, F(3, 23) = 3.07, p = .048. Sex was not found to be significant, F(3, 23) = .986, p > .05. Sport type differences indicated that tennis had a µ = 7.59, whereas lacrosse had a µ = 6.72 in task cohesion. Social cohesion presented no difference. The results of this study reiterate Carron et al.'s (2002) findings. Namely, success and cohesion are highly correlated, and that sex does not have a significant effect on team cohesion and success. This is contrary to theoretical literature that presents female groups as more tuned in to cohesion issues. The finding that differences exist between co-acting sports and interdependent sports in cohesion and success is a new development. It is possible that while the performance of an athlete in a co-acting sport is not directly affected by teammates, cohesion with the group can have an effect on performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
