ABSTRACT
Carron et al. (2007) recognise in the quote above the significance of the construct of group cohesion for humankind. Siebold (1999) has suggested that cohesion has undoubtedly been important since a time when prehistoric hunters used ‘teamwork, coordination, mutual aid, and small group actions to bring down large game and obtain meat and raw materials for their clans’ (p. 7). Furthermore, the notion of group cohesion is also of critical importance in evolutionary terms and research in environmental biology has suggested that animal species are equipped with behavioural apparatus specifically designed to maintain group cohesion (e.g. Janik & Slater, 1998; Lusseau & Newman, 2004). Indeed, an understanding of group cohesion is likely to be significant across a range of academic domains, including military, evolutionary, organisational, and educational psychology. The field of sport too is undoubtedly a site of critical importance for the
investigation of issues related to group cohesion. Sport teams are naturally occurring groups that can provide a useful insight into the nature of group cohesion. Indeed, examples abound of scenarios where seemingly ‘less talented’ sport teams have overcome overwhelming odds and succeeded, attributing their successes to factors such as a ‘team bond’, ‘teamwork’, or ‘group chemistry’ (Carron et al., 2007, p. 117). Carron et al. (2007) also astutely point out that there are equally abundant examples of situations where exceptionally talented teams of individuals have failed to succeed in
sport due to an apparent absence of the ability to work together as a team, to respect each other, and to form a coherent unit. As an example, Carron et al. (2007) refer to the 2004 US Olympic men’s basketball team (the Dream Team), who, despite possessing by far the most talented group of individuals, were defeated in the opening round of the competition by Puerto Rico, with the lack of success attributed to an absence of group chemistry in the US team. Furthermore, beyond anecdotal examples there has also been a body of research in sport that has served to highlight the link between cohesion and an array of positive outcome variables, such as decreased state anxiety (Eys et al., 2003), enhanced performance (Carron et al., 2002), increased satisfaction (Widmeyer & Williams, 1991), increased work output (Prapavessis & Carron, 1997), and reduced perceptions of social loafing (Naylor & Brawley, 1992). In this chapter I attempt to integrate the sport-related literature on group
cohesion with attachment theory. Specifically, the chapter seeks to provide a brief review of the literature on cohesion (briefly addressing definition, conceptualisation, and research findings) before exploring the avenues of research that might be explored when these ideas are integrated with concepts and assumptions from bodies of attachment literature.
