Abstract
Defined as teammates vying for the same limited playing time in a position, positional competition is an omnipresent process in high performance teams. Harenberg and colleagues (2021) proposed a framework of positional competition which suggests it sharing relationships with various group dynamics concepts. One of such concepts is social identity, which can be seen as the sense of self based on a group membership. The relationship between positional competition and social identity within team sports has yet to be examined, which was the purpose of the present study.
One hundred and eighty-one student-athletes (female n=80, age mean = 20.11, SD = 1.52) from an Easter Canadian university completed a questionnaire measuring positional competition (PCTSQ, α = .69-.88) and social identity (SIQ, α = .69-.88). The results revealed that the dimensions of positional competition predicted between 16.5% and 35.3% of the variance of social identity. When split between starters and non-starters, the explained variance of ingroup ties was 37.8% for starters and only 19.5% for non-starters. For ingroup affect, the explained variance was 34.7% for starters and 43.2% for non-starters. For starters, effort to improve and coach recognition were significant predictors in both regressions. Push by teammate and communication were significant predictors for non-starters. The findings suggest that positional competition and social identity share a strong relationship, which may be experienced differently within subgroups (e.g., starters/non-starters). Mental performance consultants and coaches may find this information valuable as both variables are important contributing factors to team functioning.
