A study on the relationships among group cohesion : leadership behavior and athlete satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between group cohesion, leader behavior, and athlete satisfaction with leadership for NCAA Division I female volleyball players. Questionnaires were sent to four Southeast Conference Universities who agreed to participate in the study. Yuki's (1971) discrepancy theory was used for examining the satisfaction of the athletes in reference to their preferences for coaching behavior and their perceptions of their coaches' actual behavior. House's (1971) path-goal theory and Chelladurai's (1990) contingency model were used as framework for investigating the relationships among all three factors. The following three problems were investigated in reference to the 29 female volleyball players: (a) determine if discrepancy scores between preferred and perceived coaching behavior factors were related to cohesion components, (b) determine if specific leadership satisfaction factors were related to the discrepancy scores between preferred and perceived coaching behaviors, and (c) determine if general and specific leadership satisfaction factors were related to the components of team cohesion. Cohesion was measured by using Carron, Widmeyer, and Brawley's (1985) Group Environmental Questionnaire. The constructs of cohesion measured were: (a) group integration- social, (b) group integration-task, (c) individual attraction to group-social, and (d) individual attraction to group-task. Leader behavior was measured with Chelladurai's (1980) Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS), and was administered in two forms: (a) preferred leadership behavior, and (b) perceived/actual leadership behavior. The five factors of leadership behavior measured by the LSS were: (a) training and instruction, (b) autocratic behavior, (c) democratic behavior, (d) rewarding behavior, and (e) social support. The difference between the two forms of leadership factors (preferred- perceived) determined the discrepancies, which, according to Yuki's (1971) discrepancy model, is related to the subordinates' satisfaction, such that as the discrepancies become smaller, the satisfaction of the subordinate with the leader should increase. Finally, Schliesman's (1985) General and Specific Satisfaction Scales were used to measure the athletes' general satisfaction with the coaches' behavior and specific satisfaction with each of the five leadership behavior factors according to the LSS. The results demonstrated that the cohesion construct of attraction to group-social was significantly related to the discrepancy values of the leader behaviors of autocratic and rewarding behavior. Also, satisfaction with autocratic, democratic and rewarding behavior all related to their corresponding discrepancy scores. Finally, it was demonstrated that: (a) group integration-social was significantly related to general leadership satisfaction and the specific leadership satisfaction factors of autocratic behavior, democratic behavior, and rewarding behavior, (b) group integration-task was significantly related to general leadership satisfaction and the specific leadership satisfaction factors of training and instruction, autocratic behavior, democratic behavior, and rewarding behavior, (c) attraction to group-social was found to be significantly related to general leadership satisfaction and all the specific leadership satisfaction factors, and (d) attraction to group-task was found to be significantly related to all the specific leadership satisfaction factors but was not significantly related to general leadership satisfaction. These results demonstrated support for House's (1971) path-goal theory and Chelladurai's (1990) contingency model, however there was little support for Yukl's (1971) discrepancy model.