Effects of Personal Factors on Group Cohesiveness and Group Efficacy: Causal Models Focusing on Life Skills and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in University Soccer Club Members

Effects of an individual in a team on group cohesiveness and group efficacy were investigated. Personal factors, including life skills and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) were focused on. The model was developed based on the above concepts, and covariance structure analysis was conducted. Participants (N=545, mean age=20.12yr, SD=1.08yr) were members of eight university soccer clubs. To test the model, covariance structure analysis was conducted with life skills factors as independent variables, OCB factors as mediated factors, and recognition of group cohesiveness and group efficacy as dependent variables. Results indicated: (1) all goodness of fit indices showed values indicating sufficient fitness of the model to data (GFI=.92, AGFI=.90, CFI=.94, RMSEA=.06), (2) "communication," which is one life skills factor, had a direct positive effect on recognition of group cohesiveness and group efficacy (β=.34, β=.15, p＜.001 for both), and (3) all life skills factors had significant positive effects on recognition of group cohesiveness and group efficacy, mediated by OCB factors. The above results suggest that life skills of individuals in a team might have positive effects on the recognition of group cohesiveness and group efficacy, mediated by OCB of team members.