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Task Cohesion

Definition

'''An individual's attraction to the group because of shared commitment to the group task." (van Vianen, & De Dreu, 2001, p. 100) 

Key References 

  • Carron, A. V., Widmeyer, W. N., & Brawley, L. R. (1985). The Development of an Instrument to Assess Cohesion in Sport Teams: The Group Environment Questionnaire. Journal of Sport Psychology, 7(3), 244–266. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsp.7.3.244 
    • Introduces common measure of cohesion developed using conceptual model that seperates whether the cohesion exists on the indivdiula or group level then task and social cohesion.
  • Van Vianen, A. E., & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2001). Personality in teams: Its relationship to social cohesion, task cohesion, and team performance. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 10(2), 97–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594320143000573 
    • Compared how task cohesion and social cohesion were related to personality factors and team performance in both an applied (employee teams) and academic (student teams) settings.
  • Carron, A. V., Bray, S. R., & Eys, M. A. (2002). Team cohesion and team success in sport. Journal of Sports Sciences, 20(2), 119–126.https://doi.org/10.1080/026404102317200828 
    • Established a positive relationship between task cohesion and team performance in a sports context, support the practice of aggregating indivdiula task cohesion scores into a compositie team score based on score consistency amongst teammates.
  • Chiocchio, F., & Essiembre, H. (2009). Cohesion and Performance. Small Group Research, 40(4), 382–420. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496409335103 
    • Determined the effect of performance type (outcome & behavioral) on the cohesion-performance relationship using data from primary studies involving project teams (meta-analysis), analyzed task and social cohesion seperately for comparison.

Key Measurements

  • Carron et al 1985 Group Envirnoment Questionnaire (GEQ): primarily adapted for team use, 18 item survey.
    • Carron, A. V., Widmeyer, W. N., & Brawley, L. R. (1985). The development of an instrument to assess cohesion in sport teams: the Group Environment Questionnaire. Journal of Sport Psychology, 7(3), 244–266. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsp.7.3.244

Recent Articles 

  • Salas, E., Grossman, R., Hughes, A. M., & Coultas, C. W. (2015). Measuring team cohesion. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 57(3), 365–374. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018720815578267
    • Reviews empirical research about cohesion conceptualization, measurement, and relationship with performance.
  • Smith, M. J., Arthur, C. A., Hardy, J., Callow, N., & Williams, D. (2013). Transformational leadership and task cohesion in sport: The mediating role of intrateam communication. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14(2), 249–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.10.002
    • Examines whether intrateam communication mediates the effect of transformational leadership on task cohesion.
  • Wang, S.-L., & Hwang, G.-J. (2012). The role of collective efficacy, cognitive quality, and task cohesion in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). Computers & Education, 58(2), 679–687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2011.09.003
    • Found that task cohesion and cognitive quality are both significant predictors of group performance.