10. Group Cohesion

Question 1

Cohesion

Answer 1

The tendency for individuals to work together to achieve their goals.

Question 2

Co-action

Answer 2

When others do the task at the same time but separately. e.g rowing team pulling together

Question 3

Interaction

Answer 3

When a group works together to produces results. e.g. most team sports like football , netball etc

Question 4

Carron’s antecedents

Answer 4

The factors that might influence cohesion

Question 5

What are the 4 Carron’s antecedents?

Answer 5

• Environmental factors
• Personal factors
• Leadership factors
• team factors

Question 6

Environmental factors (Carrons antecedents)

Answer 6

• size of the group and time available. The longer the group are together, the more time they will have to learn each others roles
• The size and structure of the group. the larger the group , the better chance of more productivity . But also more chance of social loafing and Ringlemann effect developing.
• a mix of age and gender. when the group gets too large, a sub-division or ‘clique’ can form

Question 7

Personal factors (Carrons antecedents)

Answer 7

• the similarity of the group members in terms of their aspirations , opinions and values.
• whether they are happy with the role they play in the team and even how fit they are

Question 8

Leadership factors (Carrons antecedents)

Answer 8

• the leadership style chosen by the coach or captain . how the captain or coach gets on with the others in the team

Question 9

Team factors (Carrons antecedents)

Answer 9

• the longer the team has been together the more chance of cohesion
• the more team success achieved the more each team member will want to be successful, the higher the cohesion will be . The team will have experience of both wins and losses and the experience gained from these results are useful in learning for future games.

Question 10

What are the 2 types of cohesion ?

Answer 10

task cohesion
social cohesion

Question 11

Task cohesion

Answer 11

individuals working together to achieve an end result. involves every player doing their own role well , or working hard , along with everyone else on the task

Question 12

Social cohesion

Answer 12

Individuals relating to each other to interact in the group. looks at the interaction of the individuals in the team and how they work with each other . trust in others ability and support for each team member . May even socialise outside the sport.

Question 13

How does social cohesion help ?

Answer 13

• help the team be interactive
• help communication and team spirit

Question 14

How can social cohesion be a negative influence on a group ?

Answer 14

• might produce sub-groups or ‘cliques’ that means some of the members of the team will not cooperate or at training may not contribute.
• players may not see each other outside of team training and playing

Question 15

What is the Steiner (1972) model ?

Answer 15

actual productivity = potential productivity - losses due to faulty processes

Question 16

What did Steiner (1972) propose ?

Answer 16

that the results of group efforts could be based on an equation that sums up the influences on cohesion . the thinking behind the equation is that the best players do not always produce the best results - those players have to be moulded by the coach into a cohesive unit and maintain levels of motivation.

Question 17

Actual productivity

Answer 17

the outcome of group performance. win, a loss or a draw

Question 18

How does task cohesion help a team ?

Answer 18

• can override the problems of social cohesion . performance and results of a team may still be good without task cohesion because they work hard for the cause . the desire for success drives the team towards achieving their goals.

Question 19

Team

Answer 19

a group that has interaction , shared goals , an identity and communication

Question 20

Potential productivity

Answer 20

The best performance based on player ability and group resources

Question 21

What is group potential affected by ?

Answer 21

the skill level and ability compared to the opponents and how difficult the task ahead may be. sometimes having the best players and facilities does not mean that the team will be victorious . the players need cohesion

Question 22

Faulty processes

Answer 22

The things that go wrong to reduce group outcomes and prevent group potential being reached

Question 23

What are the two types of Faulty processes ?

Answer 23

co-ordination problems and motivational problems

Question 24

When do co-ordination problems occur ?

Answer 24

when players in the team fails to listen to coach’s instructions or employ the incorrect tactics .Players may also fail to communicate with each other

Question 25

How can motivational problems affect performance ?

Answer 25

when players suffer from too much or too little arousal or they lose drive to win , with a resultant reduction in effort and concentration this can negatively affect performance

Question 26

Social loafing

Answer 26

individual loss of motivation in a team player due to lack of performance identification when individual efforts are not recognised

Question 27

characteristics of social loafing

Answer 27

- tend to take easy options with limited contributions to teams cause - will often coast through the game and even hind behind other team members who they think might cover for them

Question 28

Causes of Social loafing ?

Answer 28

- by a lack of confidence when a player dos not believe in their ability to compete with the opposition. - players may develop a negative attitude , perhaps not liking the position they have been selected to play in - the coach or captain may have displayed poor leadership by not offering incentives and reinforcement , such as a potm award.Players may therefore think any effort will not be recognised or values - Players may lack fitness or not understand their role within the team - the goals set by the coaches may be too general . goal of just winning is not specific enough

Question 29

Ringelmann effect

Answer 29

When group performance decreases with group size

Question 30

ways to avoid social loafing

Answer 30

- the coach should make sure that the efforts of the players are being recognised and rewarded. can be done by giving the players specific roles to play in team. - Coach could use statistics , such as tackle counts, to highlight individual performances. - the coach should use a goal-setting strategy , setting goals that are realistic and specific and not just based on the result - coach might use video analysis - in training the coach should avoid situation where social loafing can occur - make sure the players fitness levels stay high

Question 31

one of the strategies used to reduce the effects of social loafing and to improve cohesion

Answer 31

goal setting