Social and task cohesion and the relationship with team sport satisfaction and academic performance among a first year university cohort

Abstract

There has been a resurgence of interest on the influence of social and task cohesion and academic performance of students in order to find a systematic relationship between cohesion and performance. The transition from high school to university can be stressful for those who are in the phase of emerging adulthood. Although students in this phase of their development have left the dependency of childhood, they have not as yet assumed the enduring responsibilities of adulthood. Adjustment to the demands of academic work and sport participation may place an added burden on students to find the correct balance between their academic and social responsibilities as engagement in sport may negatively influence their academic performance. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between social and task cohesion on team sport satisfaction and academic performance of a sport and recreation first year cohort of university students. A total of 173 first year students participated in the study. A survey design using a structured questionnaire was administered. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis. The results show that whilst the students found the transition from school to first year university life to be stressful, moderate to strong correlations were established between social and task cohesion and team sport satisfaction. The regression analysis showed that the factor individual integration (group) had the strongest impact on team/group satisfaction. However, the correlations and regression analysis between social and task cohesion indicated negative associations with students’ academic performance.

Keywords: Social cohesion, task cohesion, team sport satisfaction, academic performance.