The Nature Of Status In Sport Teams

Status--the importance/prestige which is possessed by or accorded to individuals by virtue of their position in relation to others--plays an important role in group dynamics (Shaw, 1981). In the sport sciences, however, research on this concept is minimal. Thus, three studies were carried out to examine the nature of status among athletes in sport teams.;Studies 1 and 2 examined the relationship of the perceptions of status attributes and status rank to cohesion. Canadian (112 intercollegiate and 64 secondary school) and Indian (47 intercollegiate and 62 secondary school) athletes were tested.;The methodology adopted in Studies 1 and 2 were similar. In both studies, the perception of status attributes was measured using a structured format that incorporated 17 status attributes identified from research in social and work groups. The status rank of each athlete was assessed using difference scores derived from three evaluations: self by self, self by others, and others by self. The perception of group cohesion was measured using the Group Environment Questionnaire (Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985).;The results showed that status attributes were operative in sport teams in both Canada and India. However, no association between perceptions of either status attributes or status rank and group cohesion was found among either Canadian or Indian athletes.;In Study 3, the nature of status attributes operative in sport teams was further examined using an open-ended approach. Two groups of athletes--Canadian (N = 69) and Indian (N = 105)--were tested.;An inductive content analysis of the responses of athletes revealed four main categories of status attributes--physical, psychological, demographic, and relationship with external others. When the frequency of occurance of these attributes was examined, it was found that psychological attributes were considered to be most important for sport team athletes.;The results of Studies 1, 2, and 3 have provided some insight into the nature of the status attributes operative in sport teams in Canada and India. Also, a number of issues were raised for future research