Member communication as network structure: Relationship with task cohesion in sport

Recent research has found that perceived information exchange between sport team members was positively associated with greater task cohesiveness. The purpose of the current research (two studies) was to extend these findings and test if (a) the proportion of teammates with whom an athlete exchanges information and (b) the proportion of members in the group collectively who exchange information were associated with perceived task cohesion. Participants (N = 205) from intact teams in Study 1 identified the proportion of team members with whom they regularly exchanged information using a nomination procedure, and a one-way ANOVA was used to differentiate between three groups (i.e. athletes who identified that they interacted with a larger, moderate, and smaller proportion of teammates) in terms of task cohesion. Results revealed a significant group effect, partial eta(2) = .16, p < .001. As predicted, those interacting with a larger proportion of teammates reported greater task cohesion than those interacting with a moderate and smaller proportion of teammates (all ps < .05). Using a hypothetical vignette design, a sample of team sport athletes (N = 177) in Study 2 read a team description and were presented with a corresponding communication network graphic that varied in overall network density. As hypothesised, those exposed to the team portrayed with higher network density reported higher anticipated task cohesion than those exposed to the lower network density team description vignette (p < .001).