Abstract
Role ambiguity refers to a lack of clear information associated with a group member's position (Kahn et al., 1964), and researchers have found that athletes are more satisfied and perceive their team as more cohesive when roles are clear (i.e., less ambiguous; Eys & Carron, 2001; Eys et al., 2003). However, most role ambiguity research has been descriptive and cross-sectional in nature. As such, researchers have emphasized the importance of examining role ambiguity using experimental methods (Beauchamp et al., 2002), though this requires a protocol for manipulating perceptions of one's role. One potential protocol takes advantage of the availability heuristic, which suggests individuals perceive events differently based on the ease by which they are recalled (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973). The purpose of the present study was to determine if athletes' perceived role ambiguity could be manipulated by the number of roles requested when asked to describe their contributions to their team. Participants included 112 (Mage = 20.20) male (n = 76) and female (n = 36) university/college/club athletes from interdependent team sports who were asked to provide descriptions of three or ten role responsibilities. Results were examined in light of starting status and interaction effects were found demonstrating that starters in the ten role condition expressed more role ambiguity than starters in the three role condition (p < .05; no differences were found for non-starters). Evidence of similar interaction effects among conditions regarding role satisfaction was found. Discussion is focused on theoretical implications of manipulating athletes' perceptions of role ambiguity.
