10. Group Cohesion Flashcards
Cohesion
The tendency for individuals to work together to achieve their goals.
Co-action
When others do the task at the same time but separately. e.g rowing team pulling together
Interaction
When a group works together to produces results. e.g. most team sports like football , netball etc
Carron’s antecedents
The factors that might influence cohesion
What are the 4 Carron’s antecedents?
- Environmental factors
- Personal factors
- Leadership factors
- team factors
Environmental factors (Carrons antecedents)
- 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
Personal factors (Carrons antecedents)
- 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
Leadership factors (Carrons antecedents)
- the leadership style chosen by the coach or captain . how the captain or coach gets on with the others in the team
Team factors (Carrons antecedents)
- 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.
What are the 2 types of cohesion ?
task cohesion
social cohesion
Task cohesion
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
Social cohesion
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.
How does social cohesion help ?
- help the team be interactive
- help communication and team spirit
How can social cohesion be a negative influence on a group ?
- 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
What is the Steiner (1972) model ?
actual productivity = potential productivity - losses due to faulty processes
What did Steiner (1972) propose ?
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.
Actual productivity
the outcome of group performance. win, a loss or a draw
How does task cohesion help a team ?
- 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.
Team
a group that has interaction , shared goals , an identity and communication
Potential productivity
The best performance based on player ability and group resources
What is group potential affected by ?
the skill level and ability of the 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
Faulty processes
The things that go wrong to reduce group outcomes and prevent group potential being reached
What are the two types of Faulty processes ?
co-ordination problems and motivational problems
When do co-ordination problems occur ?
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
How can motivational problems affect performance ?
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
Social loafing
individual loss of motivation in a team player due to lack of performance identification when individual efforts are not recognised
characteristics of social loafing
- 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
Causes of Social loafing ?
- 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
Ringelmann effect
When group performance decreases with group size
wats to avoid social loafing
- the clash 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
