INTRAGROUP CONFLICT AND COHESION IN INTERACTIVE SPORTS TEAMS

Gordana Dobrijević, Slavko Alčaković

DOI Number
https://doi.org/10.22190/TEME210623004D
First page
033
Last page
047

Abstract


The aims of this study are to: (a) identify the most frequently used conflict management style; (b) determine the level of cohesion; and (c) examine the relationship between conflict and cohesion in interactive sports teams. The study was conducted on a sample of 205 professional sports players from interactive sports teams from Serbia (basketball, handball, water polo, volleyball, and football teams). The data was collected through the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory – II (ROCII – II) and the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ). In relation to all of the sports considered, the findings revealed high levels of all four dimensions of cohesion (Group Integration – Task, Group Integration – Social, Individual Attractions to the Group – Task, and Individual Attractions to the Group – Social). The study has shown a positive correlation between cohesion and the collaborative conflict management style, and a negative correlation between cohesion and the competing style. Cooperation proved to be the most frequently used conflict management style, and competing proved the least frequently used style in interactive sports teams.


Keywords

conflict, cohesion, sports teams, interactive sports, interdependence

Full Text:

PDF

References


Balyan, M. (2018). Examination of the Relationship between Coaching Efficacy and Conflict Management Style in Soccer Coaches. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 6(3), 361-365. Retrieved from http://www.hrpub.org. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2018.060301

Barki, H., & Hartwick, J. (2004). Conceptualizing the Construct of Interpersonal Conflict. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 15(3), 216-244.

Benard, S., & Doan, L. (2011). The Conflict–Cohesion Hypothesis: Past, Present, and Possible Futures. In Thye, S.R. and Lawler, E.J. (Eds.), Advances in Group Processes, Vol. 28, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley (pp. 189-225). doi:10.1108/S0882-6145(2011)0000028010

Brewer, N., Mitchell, P., & Weber, N. (2002). Gender Role, Organizational Status, and Conflict Management Styles. International Journal of Conflict Management, 13(1), 78-94.

Brisimis, E., Bebetsos, E., & Krommidas, C. (2018). Does Group Cohesion Predict T Sport Athletes' Satisfaction? Hellenic Journal of Psychology, 15, 108-124. Retrieved Jul 06, 2020 from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325314031_DOES_GROUP_COHESION_PREDICT_TEAM_SPORT_ATHLETES%27_SATISFACTION

Bruner, M. W., Eys, M., Blair Evans, M., & Wilson, K. (2015). Interdependence and Social Identity in Youth Sport Teams. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 27(3), 351–358. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2015.1010661

Carless, S.A., & De Paola, C. (2000). The measurement of cohesion in work teams. Small Group Research, 31, 71-88.

Carron, A. V., Widmeyer, W. N., & Brawley, L.R. (1985). The Development of an Instrument to Assess Cohesion in Sport Teams: The Group Environment Questionnaire. Journal of Sport Psychology, 7, 244-266.

Cotterill, S. (2012). Team Psychology in Sports: Theory and Practice. New York NY: Routledge.

Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297-334.

Ćirković, Đ. (2015). Specifics and role of conflicts in sports organizations. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Novi Sad, Association Center for Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies and Research – ACIMSI.

De Dreu, C.K.W. (2007). Cooperative outcome interdependence, task reflexivity, and team effectiveness: a motivated information processing perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(3), 628–638.

Dobrijević, G., Đorđević Boljanović, J., Alčaković, S., & Lazarević, S. (2020). Perception of Cohesion in Interactive Sports Teams. Facta Universitatis, Series Physical Education and Sport, 18(2), 431-438.

Džaferović, M. (2018). The Effects of Implementing a Program of Nonviolent Communication on the Causes and Frequency of Conflicts Among Students. Teme, 42(1), 57-74. doi:10.22190/TEME1801057D

Engleberg, I.N., & Wynn, D.R. (2007). Working in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies (fourth edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon, Pearson Education, Inc.

Evans, M., Eys, M., & Bruner, M. (2012). Seeing the "We" in "Me" Sports: The Need to Consider Individual Sport Team Environments. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 53(4), 301-308. doi:10.1037/a0030202

Evans, M.B., & Eys, M. (2015). Collective goals and shared tasks: Interdependence structure and perceptions of individual sport team environments. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 25(1), 139-148. doi:10.1111/sms.12235. Retreived Feb 10 2021 from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261719993_Collective_goals_and_shared_tasks_Interdependence_structure_and_perceptions_of_individual_sport_team_environments.

Holt, N.L., Knight, C.J., & Zukiwski, P. (2012). Female athletes’ perceptions of teammate conflict in sport: Implications for sport psychology consultants. The Sport Psychologist, 26, 135–154.

Laios, A., & Alexopoulos, P. (2014) The sources of conflict in professional basketball teams. The case of Greece. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 152, 343–347. Available at www.sciencedirect.com. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.09.207 ERPA Congress 2014.

Leo, F., González-Ponce, I., Sánchez-Miguel, P., Ivarsson, A., & García-Calvo, T. (2015). Role ambiguity, role conflict, team conflict, cohesion and collective efficacy in sport teams: A multilevel analysis. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 20, 60-66. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2015.04.009

Martin, L., Bruner, M., Eys, M., & Spink, K. (2014). The social environment in sport: selected topics. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 7(1), 87–105. doi:10.1080/1750984x.2014.885553

Mellalieu, S., Shearer, D., & Shearer, C. (2013). A Preliminary Survey of Interpersonal Conflict at Major Games and Championships. Sport Psychologist, 27(2), 120-129. doi:10.1123/tsp.27.2.120

Murray, N. (2006). The Differential Effect of Team Cohesion and Leadership Behavior in High School Sports. Individual Differences Research, 4(4), 216-225.

Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory (second edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Paradis, K. F. & Martin, L. J. (2012). Team building in sport: Linking theory and research to practical application. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 3, 159-170. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21520704.2011.653047

Pulido, J. J., García-Calvo, T., Leo, F. M., González-Ponce, I., & Sánchez-Oliva, D. (2015). Adaptation and validation in Spanish of the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ) with professional football players. Psicothema, 27(3), 261-268. doi:10.7334/psicothema2014.247

Rahim, A. (2011). Managing Conflict in Organizations (fourth edition). New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.

Rahim, M.A. (1983). Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventories. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc.

Shetach, A. (2009). The Four-Dimensions Model: A Tool for Effective Conflict Management International Studies of Management & Organization, 39(3), 82-106.

Smith, M. J., Arthur, C. A., Hardy, J., Callow, N., & Williams, D. (2013). Transformational leadership and task cohesion in sport: The mediating role of intrateam communication. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14(2), 249–257. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.10.002

Sullivan, P.J., Feltz, D. (2001) The Relationship between Intrateam Conflict and Cohesion within Hockey Teams. Small Group Research, 32(3), 342-355. doi:10.1177/104649640103200304

Sullivan, P., & Feltz, D. L. (2003). The Preliminary Development of the Scale for Effective Communication in Team Sports (SECTS). Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33(8), 1693-1715. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb01970.x.

Sullivan, P. J., & Short, S. (2011). Further operationalization of intra-team communication in sports: an updated version of the scale of effective communication in team sports (SECTS-2). Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41, 471-487. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00722.x

Tekleab, A. G., Quigley, N. R., & Tesluk, P. E. (2009). A Longitudinal Study of Team Conflict, Conflict Management, Cohesion, and Team Effectiveness. Group & Organization Management, 34(2), 170-205.

Trbojević, J. & Petrović, J. (2017). Effects of Motivational Climate on the Development of Amotivation for Sport in Young Handball Players. TEME, 41(1), 211-226. doi:0.22190/TEME1701211T

Van der Vegt, G.S., Emans, B.J., & Van de Vliert, E. (2001). Patterns of interdependence in work teams: a two-level investigation of the relations with job and team satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 54, 51–69. Retrieved Feb 10 2021 from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261719993_Collective_goals_and_shared_tasks_Interdependence_structure_and_perceptions_of_individual_sport_team_environments




DOI: https://doi.org/10.22190/TEME210623004D

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


© University of Niš, Serbia
Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND
Print ISSN: 0353-7919
Online ISSN: 1820-7804