Group Dynamics

Question 1

What are the 4 group features and examples?

Answer 1

1. Interaction between group members e.g defence and central players working together to mark specific players
2. A collective identity e.g wearing the same sports kit
3. Shared objective or common goals e.g to achieve success
4. Communication e.g hand signal in rugby to indicate where the ball is being thrown in rugby

Question 2

Who suggested group formation has 5 stages in the development of a sports team?

Answer 2

Tuckman (1965)

Question 3

What are the 5 stages in the development of a sports team?

Answer 3

1. Forming
2. Storming
3. Norming
4. Performing
5. Mourning

Question 4

What is forming and an example?

Answer 4

Getting to know each other e.g netball players come together and get to know each other

Question 5

What is storming and an example?

Answer 5

Conflict between positions, statuses e.g two players competing for the same position

Question 6

What is norming and an example?

Answer 6

Cooperation after conflicts are resolved e.g netball team works together so cohesion of team develops

Question 7

What is performing and an example?

Answer 7

Common goals and success e.g winning a match

Question 8

What is mourning and an example?

Answer 8

Goals have been achieved and team may disband e.g leaving the team

Question 9

What is cohesion?

Answer 9

The desire of group members to achieve their goals and forces acting to keep members within the group

Question 10

What are the 2 types of cohesion?

Answer 10

Task and social

Question 11

What is task cohesion and an example?

Answer 11

Looks at the end result and involves every player working together to achieve the goal e.g winning a title

Question 12

What is social cohesion and an example?

Answer 12

Looks at the interaction of individuals in the team and how they work with each other e.g socialising in and outside of the sport

Question 13

What is cohesion affected by?

Answer 13

• Past success
• Communication
• Sharing common goals
• Unequal pay and rewards
• Personality
• Threats to the team
• Type of sport
• Size of group
• Similarity of group members
• Likelihood of success

Question 14

What is Steiner’s model of group performance?

Answer 14

Actual productivity = Potential productivity - Loss due to faulty processes

Question 15

What is actual productivity and an example?

Answer 15

Result e.g win or loss

Question 16

What is potential productivity and an example?

Answer 16

Groups best performance e.g est possible outcome

Question 17

What is faulty process and an example?

Answer 17

The things that go wrong e.g lack of cohesion, injury

Question 18

What is lack of co-ordination caused by?

Answer 18

• Poor strategies
• Bad timing
• Misunderstanding of roles and coaches instructions
• Lack of communication
• Poor tactics

Question 19

What is social loafing?

Answer 19

Loss of individual motivation due to the lack of performance identification

Question 20

What is social loafing caused by?

Answer 20

Negative attitude
Lack of reinforcement
Low ability
Poor leadership
Low confidence
A belief your effort won’t change the results

Question 21

What is social loafing prevented by?

Answer 21

Statistics
Peer group pressure
Set goals
Give roles
Highlighting individual performance

Question 22

What is the Ringlemann Effect?

Answer 22

States that individual perfomance decreases with group size

Question 23

What study supports the Ringlemann Effect?

Answer 23

A study of Tug of War found that a team of 8 people didn’t pull 8 times as hard as individually

Question 24

Are winning teams cohesive?

Answer 24

Winning teams display high task cohesion
Cohesive groups are usually winners
Task cohesion is more important
Success follows when task and social cohesion is high
Other factors promote success, not just cohesion
Winning teams may not need social cohesion if committed to task - task cohesion is enough