Social influences
This term refers to the idea that humans naturally seek connection and are affected by inclusion or exclusion from groups.
What are social beings?
This concept suggests that groups exist along a continuum of “groupness,” shaped more by subjective perception than objective criteria.
What is the groupness continuum?
This stage of group development is characterized by initial excitement, formation of relationships, and clarification of group goals.
What is forming?
This phenomenon describes the consistent advantage teams or athletes experience when competing in their home environment across both team and individual sports.
What is home advantage?
This concept refers to perceived assistance, care, or information received from others that can influence health and behavior.
What is social support?
This short-term experience can still lead to worse mood, anger, and decreased self-esteem.
What is exclusion (or ostracism)?
This term describes a dynamic, emergent state where a group remains united to achieve both task objectives and satisfy social needs.
What is group cohesion?
This stage is typically marked by interpersonal conflict and challenges related to differences in skills, roles, and personalities.
What is storming?
This factor explains why teams performing at home benefit from familiarity with playing conditions such as field dimensions, equipment, or environment.
What is familiarity (with facilities/venue)?
This type of support involves providing advice, guidance, or feedback to help someone improve performance or make decisions.
What is informational support?
These are the unwritten rules that guide behavior and help individuals understand what is considered acceptable in a group.
What are social norms?
This specific dimension of cohesion refers to bonding within a group to accomplish shared performance goals.
What is group integration–task (GI-T)?
This stage involves establishing shared norms, expectations, and roles, leading to increased cohesion and stability within the group.
What is norming?
This audience-related factor includes crowd size, density, and enthusiasm, all of which can enhance home team performance.
What is crowd support (or audience characteristics)?
This type of support involves tangible, practical assistance such as providing transportation, paying fees, or helping with logistics.
What is instrumental support?
These norms describe what most people actually do and often influence behavior through modeling.
What are descriptive norms?
This negative group phenomenon occurs when individuals reduce effort because their contributions are not individually identifiable or feel unimportant.
What is social loafing?
A varsity team is struggling with communication and cohesion, so the coach introduces structured activities like goal-setting sessions, role clarification meetings, and group challenges designed to improve trust and unity.
What is team building?
A referee officiating a soccer match begins to subconsciously favor the home team after hearing constant crowd reactions, awarding fewer penalties against them and extending extra time when they are losing.
What is referee bias due to crowd influence?
A personal trainer gives a client one-on-one feedback, recognizes their individual progress, and adjusts workouts to their specific needs, helping them feel valued and motivated.
What is individualized consideration (transformational leadership)?
This concept explains how the mere presence of others can improve or influence performance, often increasing effort when being observed.
What is social facilitation?
This bidirectional relationship explains how success can increase unity, while unity can also enhance future performance outcomes.
What is the cohesion–performance relationship?
Early in the season, a team frequently debates strategies and openly disagrees on how to execute plays, leading to new ideas and improved systems. However, when disagreements become personal and involve criticism of teammates, performance begins to decline.
What is task conflict being beneficial and relationship conflict being detrimental?
An inexperienced athlete performs worse during a home game despite strong crowd support, due to increased pressure and arousal interfering with execution of complex skills.
What is arousal affecting performance based on skill level (dominant response / social facilitation principles)?
A teenage athlete begins increasing their physical activity because their close friends regularly train together, invite them to join sessions, and make exercise a shared social experience, even without giving advice or direct encouragement.
What is companionship support?