These days there is a lot of talk about the value of the cohesion of the Italian national soccer team, emphasizing how this dimension of the group, from the manager to the players, is a decisive factor for success.
But what does cohesion mean in sports psychology?
The term “cohesion” derives from the Latin word cohaesus, which means to coexist. It is used to:
- describe the tendency of group members to stay together and stick together
- reflect the strength of the boundary between members of a group
- state that a group that is not cohesive cannot exist.
These definitions well highlight the attraction of the group to its members, while others have placed more emphasis on the concept of the group. In this sense, cohesion consists of the degree to which the group is united or the resistance of the group to its destruction.
In order to fully know what cohesion is, however, it is necessary to know what the goals of the group are. Each group has its own goals, and these vary according to the nature of the group itself, which may be, for example, a school class, an amateur basketball team, a counseling group, a group of friends on vacation, an army platoon, or a professional soccer team. Even in the diversity of their goals, these groups are similar in that they all need to show some degree of cohesion; in fact, the individuals who make up these cores stay together because they share common goals. The first thing anyone who wants to do is to be aware of what goals these people share. In this respect, cohesion is a dynamic process that reflects the tendency of a group to stay together and remain united to achieve its goals.
