Abstract
Through the lens of team cognition (Cooke, 2015), recent field and experimental research supports early group dynamics theorizing that communication network structure may serve as a cue to perceived cohesion (McLaren & Spink, 2017). Specifically, a communication network that is lower in centrality and higher in density (based on information and knowledge exchange between team members) offered a coordinated cognitive system where members feel like they were on the same page (i.e., cohesive) and the team had a greater probability of success. Using a case study approach, the current study analyzed two soccer teams, who differed in overall league success, and competed in a game. Communication networks (players identified the members they exchanged information with during the game) and perceptions of task cohesiveness were assessed. Team A (n = 13), the second-ranked team (7-1-1) in the six-team league, won the game (4-0) over Team B (n = 13), the fifth-ranked team (2-7-0). Based on past research (McLaren & Spink, 2017), it was hypothesized that the more successful team (generally and current outcome) would have the more coordinated network structure and report higher perceptions of task cohesion. As hypothesized, Team A (the more successful team) presented a more coordinated network structure (i.e., lower centrality, greater density) that also included shorter distances between members and more members in the core of the network versus the periphery when compared with Team B. Along with this more coordinated communication network structure, athletes on Team A also reported greater perceptions of task cohesion.Acknowledgments: Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Scholarship to the first author (752-2014-2655)