Abstract
Although individual sport athletes (e.g., running, golf, and gymnastics) compete independently, an interdependent group environment often plays an important role in their sport performance and overall experiences. The current research sought to develop an understanding of teammate interpersonal influence in individual sport group settings, using a grounded theory methodological approach. Six male and eight female elite individual sport athletes participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews designed to gain an understanding of their experiences with teammates in their sport. The elite level athletes (i.e., National to Olympic competitive levels) competed in middle to long distance running (n = 6), cross country skiing (n = 6), mountain biking (n = 1), and wrestling (n = 1). Athletes described a range of interpersonal influences from teammates, and suggested that individual sport teams were a main source of motivation, social facilitation, and social comparisons along with other general forms of social influence (e.g., encouragement). Furthermore, athletes described how concepts such as groupness, cohesion, and competitiveness were determinants of the type of influence groups had on their experiences. These results indicated that group experiences are central for many individual sport athletes, and that the management of group processes should be an important concern for individual sport coaches and practitioners.
