Examining social identity and intrateam moral behaviours in competitive youth ice hockey using stimulated recall

ABSTRACT

Social identity – identity formed through membership in groups – may play an important role in regulating intrateam moral behaviour in youth sport (Bruner, M. W., Boardley, I., & Côté, J. (2014). Social identity and prosocial and antisocial behavior in youth sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 15(1), 56–64. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2013.09.003). The aim of this study was to qualitatively examine this potential role through stimulated recall interviews with competitive youth-ice-hockey players. Twenty-three players (M_age = 13.27 years, SD = 1.79) who reported engaging in high, median or low frequency of antisocial teammate behaviour (determined through pre-screening with the Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviour in Sport Scale [Kavussanu, M., & Boardley, I. D. (2009). The prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport scale. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 31(1), 97–117. doi:10.1123/jsep.31.1.97]) were recruited from eight youth-ice-hockey teams in Canada. Interviews involved participants recalling their thoughts during prosocial/antisocial interactions with teammates, prompted by previously recorded video sequences of such incidents. Thematic analysis of interview data revealed all athletes – regardless of reported frequency of intrateam antisocial behaviour – felt prosocial interactions with teammates enhanced social identity. In contrast, the perceived influence of antisocial teammate behaviour on social identity differed depending on athletes’ reported frequency of intrateam antisocial behaviour; those reporting low and median frequencies described how such behaviour undermines social identity, whereas athletes reporting high frequency did not perceive this effect. The study findings highlight the potential importance of intrateam moral behaviour and social identity for youth-sport team functioning.

KEYWORDS:

• Group dynamics
• prosocial behaviour
• antisocial behaviour
• team sport

Acknowledgements

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant (#430-2013-000950) and an Insight Grant (#435-2014-0038). The authors also wish to thank the hockey associations, coaches and young athletes that participated in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ The bantam boys’ team included one female player. During prescreening, this female player was classified as low in antisocial behaviour towards teammates and was therefore invited to participate in the study. This explains why there was one more female and one less male player in the sample than would be expected.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada: [Grant Numbers 430-2013-000950 and 435-2014-0038].