Abstract
Previous research has indicated that synchronized activity augments cooperation and connection between individuals (Valdesolo, Ouyang, & DeSteno, 2010). However, it has yet to be determined whether synchronization affects collective efficacy and self-efficacy.The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect on synchronized activities on collective efficacy and self-efficacy. It was hypothesized that synchronization would result in significantly higher collective efficacy than non-synchronization. No specific hypotheses were put forward for self-efficacy. Thirty pairs (31 males, 29 females) were randomly assigned to either a synchronized or non-synchronized warm up condition prior to a tug-of-war task. Following the warm-up, participants completed both self-efficacy and collective efficacy measures regarding their expected performance for the tug-of-war. Analysis of variance revealed no significant differences between conditions for either collective or self-efficacy. However, subsequent analyses revealed a significant gender effect on efficacy whereby makes were significantly more efficacious than females. The lack of synchrony effect upon efficacy may be due to the short duration of synchrony activities. Although similar times have had significant effects on cohesion, perceptions of efficacy may require more processing than those of cohesion.The gender effects are consistent with previous research in that males are more confident in a masculine task (i.e., strength tasks such as tug-of-war)than females (e.g., Clifton & Gill, 1994; Lirgg, 1991).
