Decreasing Aggression through Team Communication in Collegiate Athletes

Hunhyuk Choi,Youngsook Kim,Jae-Ahm Park

doi:10.3390/su11205650

Abstract

Researchers have been interested in the topic of aggression in sports, and research shows it may not only hinder team success but also cause serious injuries (e.g., career-ending injuries) to athletes. Previous studies found that variables (e.g., communication, coaches, and efficacy) increased or decreased aggression in athletes; however, no studies have been conducted to investigate a model including these variables and aggression. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to simultaneously examine the relationships among communication, coach–athlete relationship, team efficacy, and aggression in team sports. After 294 collegiate athletes playing in team sports completed the battery of questionnaires, the data were analyzed for descriptive statistics and the structural equation modeling. The bootstrapping method was utilized to test the mediation effects. The results showed that communication was positively related to the coach–athlete relationship and team efficacy. The coach–athlete relationship was positively related to team efficacy which was negatively related to aggression. The bootstrapping results indicated a significant indirect effect from communication to aggression through coach–athlete relationship and team efficacy. The current study suggests that coaches should improve their communication skills to help athletes to have positive perceptions in the relationships with their coaches, to increase team efficacy, and to reduce aggressive behaviors.

Highlights

Introduction and Literature ReviewThe psychology of sustainability and sustainable development which is relatively a new research of Sustainability Science is centered on the psychological approach in the constructional processes of sustainability and sustainable development, and it unveils psychological factors which are sustainable for individuals and facilitate their well-being in different environments such as personal, social, and organizational environments [1]
This study was an initial attempt to investigate the relationship between communication, coach–athlete relationship, team efficacy, and aggression in Korean collegiate athletes
The results of this study indicated that communication was positively related to the coach–athlete relationship and team efficacy

Summary

Introduction

Introduction and Literature ReviewThe psychology of sustainability and sustainable development which is relatively a new research of Sustainability Science is centered on the psychological approach in the constructional processes of sustainability and sustainable development, and it unveils psychological factors which are sustainable for individuals and facilitate their well-being in different environments such as personal, social, and organizational environments [1]. Based on the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development perspective in organizations [2], fostering a healthy team environment can lead to healthy and successful outcomes as well as well-being in team members. Effective instruction through clear communication facilitates athletes’ skill development, confidence improvement, motivation, and satisfaction [5]. Communication is considered a way to build foundations between individuals by sharing thoughts and emotions and to develop a rapport between coaches and athletes [8]. Coaches’ interaction and effective communication between coaches and athletes influences athletes’ development, performance, behaviors, psychological and emotional well-being, motivation, and sport persistence [9,10,11,12]. Given the open flow of communication in a close relationship, a co-oriented view can be created between coaches and athletes [13]

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