ABSTRACT

Humans are social animals. Twenty-first-century life is structured around highly organized and complex social processes that operate in our work, social and sporting lives. Anyone who has ever reflected on teams they have been part of will appreciate their seemingly incomprehensible complexity. Synergy or synergistic effects occur when the output of a team appears to be greater than the sum of individual parts. For several decades sport psychology researchers and practitioners have been working on the factors characterizing teams that achieve that cohesive and synergistic chemistry. Accountability is a big issue in task-cohesive teams – this may result in passionate debate about different options. This chapter also examines interpersonal conflict and communication. Recent research has identified three types of personal characteristics which can be found in team members, leaders or followers and which have the potential to undermine or prevent a cohesive synergy being created. These have been labelled the 'dark triad': narcissism; machiavellianism; and psychopathy.