Abstract
In a recent pilot study, a positive relationship was reported between group satisfaction in an exercise setting and both perceiving oneself as belonging to a group (i.e., groupness) and a measure of task cohesion (Priebe et al., 2011). The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) To replicate the results of the previous pilot study using a larger and more diverse sample. 2) To extend the results to a sport setting. The latter was deemed important given the suggestion that the construct of groupness deserves attention in other group settings such as sport (Spink et al., 2010). Structural equation modeling was used to examine groupness and cohesion as predictors of satisfaction in exercise and sport settings. Adult exercisers (N=142) and athletes (N=144) completed a questionnaire assessing groupness (Spink et al., 2010), cohesion (Carron et al., 1985) and group satisfaction (Bruner & Spink, in press). Results revealed that the models for both the exercise and the sport settings had an acceptable fit (exercise: CFI = .95; RMSEA = .077; sport: CFI = .94; RMSEA = .086). In both settings, task cohesion and groupness predicted satisfaction (p<.05). These findings replicate those found in an exercise setting (Priebe et al., 2011) and extend the model to a sport setting. As such, they provide preliminary support for the idea that both the perception of belonging to a "group" and perceiving a group as cohesive may be associated with satisfaction in exercise and sport settings.Acknowledgments: Supported by a SSHRC Vanier Scholarship (1st author).