Cohesion and Performance in Sport: A Meta Analysis

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analytic summary of the cohesion-performance relationship in sport. A secondary purpose was to examine the influence of a number of potential moderator variables. Another secondary purpose was to examine the cohesion–performance relationship reported in studies using the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ). Standard literature searches produced 46 studies containing a total of 164 effect sizes. Overall, a significant moderate to large relationship was found between cohesion and performance. A moderate effect was found in studies that used the GEQ. A larger cohesion–performance effect was found in refereed publications (vs. nonpublished sources) and for female teams. These results have implications for practitioners in terms of the importance of team building to enhance team cohesion, the nature of those team-building programs (e.g., both task- or social-oriented programs should be beneficial), and their target group (e.g., both interdependent and coactive sport teams should profit).