Recent developments in team resilience research in elite sport

Abstract

In this paper we review recent developments in team resilience research in elite sport. Although resilience has become a popular and well-researched topic from an individual (psychological) perspective, less attention has been paid to whether this construct is conceptually and operationally robust at a group level. In this review, we provide an overview of definitional aspects of team resilience followed by an outline of research in the general psychology literature, and a discussion of the findings of the first two studies of team resilience in elite sport. Recent developments in this area of sport psychology research suggest that an understanding of how teams mobilize their collective psychosocial resources to withstand stressors is essential for optimal performance.

The emergence of team resilience: A multilevel conceptual model of facilitating factors

“…Concept definitions are at the heart of any model or theory. Scholars have proposed several definitions of team resilience over the past decade (for reviews, see Flint‐Taylor & Cooper, ; Morgan et al ., ). However, as there is no commonly agreed upon definition of team resilience, such disparity has the potential to thwart consistencies in operationalization and cumulative progress of research and theory on this concept.…”

“…Relative to the work on individual resilience, there has been little systematic empirical research and theorizing on resilience among teams to date. In terms of peer‐reviewed publications on team resilience, 18 papers were identified in a recent narrative review of the literature, with the earliest research published in 2009 (Morgan, Fletcher, & Sarkar, ). Briefly, scholars have examined a variety of determinants, mechanisms, and outcomes of team resilience across a range of settings, including but not limited to sport (e.g., Morgan, Fletcher, & Sarkar, ), business (e.g., Meneghel, Martínez, & Salanova, ), information technology (e.g., Sharma & Sharma, ), natural and nuclear power industries (e.g., van der Beek & Schraagen, ), and military (e.g., Mjelde, Smith, Lunde, & Espevik, ).…”

Overcoming Performance Slumps: Psychological Resilience in Expert Cricket Batsmen

“…Regarding social networks within sport, team structures should enable and encourage players to develop positive relationships with teammates and support staff to create opportunities to share experience and knowledge that can be drawn on during difficult times (Morgan, Fletcher, & Sarkar, 2013, 20152017). Moreover, given the findings of this study, particular attention should be given to the masculine attitudes that may be present within a male dominated environment that may undermine support structures and prevent athletes from seeking the support that they would like and potentially need.…”

Collective rituals in team sports: Implications for team resilience and communal coping

“…Also, longitudinal research can be used to further explore the degree to which collective rituals play a role in team resilience, and address some of the questions that may arise in an applied environment and how these may develop over the course of time. From an applied perspective, this line of research has important implications for both athlete well-being and performance improvement, as more resilient teams are argued to be better equipped for dealing with stressors, setbacks, and challenges when they arise (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012;Morgan, et al, 2013Morgan, et al, , 2015Morgan, et al, , 2017, which can be beneficial for the mental health of team members (Yamada, Kawata, Kamimura, & Horisawa, 2017).…”

“…Generally, the term resilience refers to an individual or group's ability to deal with hindrances and/or recover from setbacks (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012). Though much of the research on resilience in sport has investigated it at the level of the individual (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012;Galli & Vealey, 2008;Gucciardi, Jackson, Coulter, & Mallett, 2011;Sarkar & Fletcher, 2014), there has been growing interest in how it manifests at the team level, examining how collective psychosocial processes can bolster against the potential negative effects of adverse situations (Decroos, et al, 2017;Morgan, et al, 2013Morgan, et al, , 2015Morgan, et al, , 2017. A qualitative investigation in elite sport identified four main characteristics of team resilience: group structure, mastery approaches, social capital and collective efficacy (Morgan, et al, 2013).…”