Intrinsic motivation has been shown to contribute to participation and adherence in sport (Biddle & Mutrie, 2001). The importance of social and task cohesion within teams has also been studied in an attempt to create and maintain a bonded group (Loughead & Hardy, 2006). However, these two factors have yet to be looked at in relation to one another, especially when exploring gender as a contributing variable. The purpose of this study was to determine if gender and motivation type are related to perceptions of team cohesion. It was hypothesized that athletes’ who are more internally motivated would view the group as more cohesive. It was also hypothesized that female athletes would perceive high levels of team social cohesion regardless of motivation type where male athletes would perceive higher levels of team social cohesion when they are more intrinsically motivated. In order to answer these questions, 253 male and female collegiate athletes were asked to complete a demographics questionnaire, the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS; Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, Tuson, Briere, & Blais, 1995) assessing individual motivation type, as well as the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ; Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985) that examined group social and task
cohesion issues within sport. The results revealed that there are significant positive correlations between intrinsic motivation types and perceptions of task and social cohesion. However, gender was not a significant predictor of perceived cohesion when moderated with motivation type. These outcomes indicate that promoting intrinsic motivation, despite gender, in sport teams contributes to more positive social and task cohesion in the group. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:123456789/193303 |
| Date | 09 June 2011 |
| Creators | Halbrook, Meghan K. |
| Contributors | Blom, Lindsey, 1977- |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
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