A multilevel investigation of the relationship between role ambiguity and role efficacy in sport

To examine the relationship between role ambiguity and role efficacy within the context of sport teams from a multilevel perspective. Secondary school rugby and field hockey players ( n=277) comprising 33 intact teams completed the Role Ambiguity Scale [Group Dyn. Theor. Res. Pract. 6 (2002) 229] at the beginning of a competitive season. One month later measures of role efficacy were also obtained. Multilevel models were examined in relation to the sport-specific contexts of offence and defence. Role ambiguity accounted for 20.70% of the total variance in role efficacy on offence and 22.45% on defence. For both offensive and defensive models, role ambiguity was able to explain individual- and group-level variances in role efficacy. However, in both cases, the majority of variance was captured at the individual level. Results highlight the explanatory value of examining nested data using multilevel frameworks when examining cognition, affect, and behaviour in interdependent environments such as sport teams. Findings are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms through which role ambiguity and role efficacy might be related.