Part three

TEAM COHESION

Overview

So far in this book, we have introduced the discipline and profession of sport and exercise
psychology (Chapter 1) and the various psychological processes (e.g., motivation,
anxiety, concentration, imagery) that affect individual athletes in their pursuit of
excellence (see Chapters 2 to 6). But at this stage, it is important to acknowledge that
group processes (e.g., team cohesion) are equally important in sport. Indeed, Widmeyer,
Brawley and Carron (2002) claimed recently that “ignoring this influence may be a major
conceptual and methodological error” (p. 302). Therefore, the next chapter will explore
the main theories, findings and issues arising from research on team cohesion in sport.