A Longitudinal Examination of Collective Efficacy Dispersion Patterns in Sport Teams

Abstract

Collective efficacy is the belief in a team’s ability to perform a task. Team members hold individual collective efficacy beliefs, which likely causes differing efficacy beliefs (dispersion) among teammates. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine collective efficacy dispersion patterns in sport teams, and explore the influence of cohesion on the development of dispersion patterns. Methods: Participants (n=27) reported collective efficacy and cohesion beliefs via survey. Visual collective efficacy dispersion patterns were constructed. The dispersion patterns of each team were correlated with cohesion scores. Results: No change over time was found in collective efficacy dispersion patterns. There may be a negative correlation between efficacy dispersion and cohesion (r=-0.447). Conclusion: There is insufficient evidence concerning the cohesion/collective efficacy dispersion relationship. This study provides information on the limitations of theorized dispersion patterns, the difficulties in transitioning from theory to observation, and how dispersion patterns could be explored in future work.