The results provide support for the efficacy of group-based physical activity programs informed by SCT. Furthermore, the results suggest that community group-based exercise programs should attempt to engage in age-targeting but not necessarily gender-targeting among older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record

Sports games are inherently emotional situations. Although a plethora of research has investigated how athletes' emotions influence their own performance, scant attention has been paid to how one person's emotional expressions influence others in the sports context. In particular, it remains unclear whether and how sports coaches' emotional expressions influence players. Drawing on emotions as social information (EASI) theory, we examined how coaches' emotional expressions influence players' affect, cognition, and behavior. Design: We conducted two multi-level, multi-source field studies of sports coaches and players engaged in competitive team sports. Study 1 had a cross-sectional research design, and Study 2 had a cross-lagged design involving three measurement points (before, during, and after the game). Method: Study 1 was set in the context of baseball/softball, and study 2 in the context of soccer. In both studies, coaches reported on their emotional expressions, players reported on their experienced emotions and inferences regarding team performance, and the team's actual performance was recorded. Results: Coaches' expressions of happiness and anger predicted (1) players' experiences of happiness and anger, (2) players' inferences about the quality of their performance, and (3) objective team performance outcomes. Regarding team performance, results indicated that coaches' expressions of happiness were conducive to team performance, whereas expressions of anger were not. Conclusions: The current results provide first-time quantitative evidence for the beneficial effects of coaches' positive emotional expressions on sports performance. The findings support key tenets of EASI theory and have implications for the broader literature on coaching and leadership.

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A previous meta-analysis examining the relationship between cohesion and performance (Carron, Colman, Wheeler, & Stevens, 2002) revealed that this relationship was significantly stronger for female teams as compared with male teams. The purpose of the current study was to explore perceptions of the cohesion-performance relationship by coaches who have led teams of both genders. Semistructured interviews were employed with Canadian and German coaches with previous experience leading both male and female sport teams. The information obtained through the interviews yielded a number of categories pertaining to potential similarities and differences within female and male sport teams including: (a) the nature of cohesion (e.g., direction of the cohesion-performance relationship), (b) antecedents of cohesion (e.g., approaches to conflict), and (c) the management of cohesion (e.g., developing social cohesion). Overall, the results offer testable propositions regarding gender differences and group involvement in a sport context as well as informing best practices such that teams can attain optimal performance.

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