Cohesion, team mental models, and collective efficacy: towards an integrated framework of team dynamics in sport

Abstract

A nomological network on team dynamics in sports consisting of a multi-framework perspective is introduced and tested. The aim was to explore the interrelationship among cohesion, team mental models (TMM), collective-efficacy (CE), and perceived performance potential (PPP). Three hundred and forty college-aged soccer players representing 17 different teams (8 female and 9 male) participated in the study. They responded to surveys on team cohesion, TMM, CE and PPP. Results are congruent with the theoretical conceptualization of a parsimonious view of team dynamics in sports. Specifically, cohesion was found to be an exogenous variable predicting both TMM and CE beliefs. TMM and CE were correlated and predicted PPP, which in turn accounted for 59% of the variance of objective performance scores as measured by teams' season record. From a theoretical standpoint, findings resulted in a parsimonious view of team dynamics, which may represent an initial step towards clarifying the epistemological roots and nomological network of various team-level properties. From an applied standpoint, results suggest that team expertise starts with the establishment of team cohesion. Following the establishment of cohesiveness, teammates are able to advance teamrelated schemas and a collective sense of confidence. Limitations and key directions for future research are outlined. not been tested yet (see Bandura 1997; Carron & Hausenblas, 1998;Eccles & Tenenbaum, 2007; 8 Klimoski & Mohammed, 1994;Mohammed et al., 2010;Salas, Sims, & Burke, 2005). The Keywords 18Team cohesion is a multidimensional phenomenon that includes both social and task 19 components at an individual and team level of analysis (Carron et al., 1985). Social cohesion 20 pertains to the notion of teammates bonding for social reasons, thus reflecting the extent that 27Of particular importance to this study is the notion that team cohesion is related to other 28 team-level constructs, such as TMM and CE (Eccles & Tenenbaum, 2007; Fiore et al., 2003). In 36TMM refer to the "collective task and team-relevant knowledge that team members bring 37 to a situation" (Cooke et al., 2003, p. 153). TMM is thought to provide a heuristic route (i.e., rule (Bandura, 1997;Myers et al., 2004;Zaccaro et al., 1995). 84From a factor analysis standpoint, the proposed model considers leading instruments 85 designed to measure cohesion, TMM and CE. Also, we aimed for a parsimonious model with 86 non-overlapping factors. Accordingly, we focused on measuring only the unique factorial 87 contributions representing cohesion, TMM, and CE. In other words, potentially overlapping 88 factors among the instruments utilized in this study were not considered. In particular, two sub- scores as measured by the Group Environment Questionnaire (see Carron et al., 1985). 95Furthermore, peer-debriefing meetings among the authors led to a unanimous agreement 96 regarding the "conceptual equivalence" of the aforementioned factors. Hence, in the proposed 97 model cohesion portrays the idea ...

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