Psychological Safety in Athletic Team Environments
Keywords:
team culture, fear, Safety, team performanceAbstract
The concept of psychological safety has historically been examined in the context of the social and organizational sciences with limited attention in the sport domain. Psychological safety is relevant to the athletic team environment and needs to be explored theoretically and empirically in this setting. Psychologically safe environments increase learning behavior, performance, communication, innovation, job attitudes, and individual well-being. These are all imperative outcomes for successful sport teams as well as supportive coaching and administrative staffs. A team with high levels of psychological safety demonstrates high levels of trust and respect throughout the hierarchy. There is an appreciation for input, an allowance for experimentation, and a collaborative approach where members find the best solution to a problem within a given context. A team with low levels of psychological safety is riddled with fear, conformity, and accentuated power distance. The leader exhibits unpredictable behavior and takes an authoritarian approach in which subordinates strive to please the leader rather than explore their highest potential. This environment can stifle well-being and/or performance and perpetuate future environments with low levels of psychological safety. Additionally, the outcomes of psychological safety demonstrate that well-being is an avenue through which performance is achieved, rather than these being mutually exclusive outcomes.
References
Agarwal, P., & Farndale, E. (2017). High-performance work systems and creativity implementation: The role of psychological capital and psychological safety. Human Resource Management Journal, 27(3), 440–458. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12148
Baer, M & Frese, M. (2003). Innovation is not enough: Climates for initiative and psychological safety, process innovations, and firm performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24(1), 45–68. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.179
Bell, S. (2007). Deep-level composition variables as predictors of team performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(3), 595–615. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.3.595
Bunderson, J. S., & Boumgarden, P. (2010). Structure and learning in self-managed teams: Why “bureaucratic” teams can be better learners. Organization Science (Providence, R.I.), 21(3), 609–624. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1090.0483
Burris, E. R., Detert, J. R., & Chiaburu, D. S. (2008). Quitting before leaving: The mediating effects of psychological attachment and detachment on voice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(4), 912–922. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.4.912
Carmeli, A. & Gittell, J. H. (2009). Learning behaviours in the workplace: The role of high‐quality interpersonal relationships and psychological safety. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 26(1), 81–98. https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.932
Chandrasekaran, A., & Mishra, A. (2012). Task design, team context, and psychological safety: An empirical analysis of R&D projects in high technology organizations. Production and Operations Management, 21(6), 977–996. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1937-5956.2012.01329.x
Chua, R. (2013). The costs of ambient cultural disharmony: Indirect intercultural conflicts in social environment undermine creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 56(6), 1545-1577. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.0971
Cross, R. & Israelit, S. (Eds.). 2000. Strategic Learning in a Knowledge Economy: Individual, Collective, and Organizational learning Process. Woburn, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Dean, C., & Rowan, D. (2013). The social worker’s role in serving vulnerable athletes. Journal of Social Work Practice, 28(2), 219–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2013.817987
Detert, J. R., Edmondson, A. (2011). Implicit voice theories: Taken-for-granted rules of self-censorship at work. Academy of Management Journal, 54(3), 461–488. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2011.61967925
Edmondson, A. (2004). Learning from mistakes is easier said than done: Group and organizational influences on the detection and correction of human error. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 40(1), 66–90. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886304263849
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
Edmondson, A. (2002). The local and variegated nature of learning in organizations: A group-level perspective. Organization Science, 13(2), 128–146. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.13.2.128.530
Edmondson, A. (2004). Learning from failure in health care: frequent opportunities, pervasive barriers. Quality & Safety in Health Care, 13(suppl 2), ii3–ii9. https://doi.org/10.1136/qshc.2003.009597
Edmondson, A. (2019). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Folkman, S. & Lazarus, R. S. (1985). If it changes it must be a process: Study of emotion and coping during three stages of a college examination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48(1), 150–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.48.1.150
Fransen, M. (2020). The impact of identity leadership on team functioning and well-being in team sport: Is psychological safety the missing link? Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 51, 101763–. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101763
Frazier, M. L. & Tupper, C. (2018). Supervisor prosocial motivation, employee thriving, and helping behavior: A trickle-down model of psychological safety. Group and Organization Management, 43(4), 561-593. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/1059601116653911
Frazier, M. L, Fainshmidt, S., Klinger, R. L., Pezeshkan, A., & Vracheva, V. (2017). Psychological safety: A meta‐analytic review and extension. Personnel Psychology, 70(1), 113–165. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12183
Goetzel, R. Z., Fabius, R., Roemer, E. C., Kent, K. B., Berko, J., Head., M. A., & Henke, R. M. (2019). The stock performance of american companies investing in a culture of health. American Journal of Health Promotion, 33(3), 439–447. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117118824818
Han, S. J., Lee, Y., & Beyerlein, M. (2019). Developing team creativity: The influence of psychological safety and relation‐oriented shared leadership. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 32(2), 159–182. https://doi.org/10.1002/piq.21293
Hansen, G. S., & Wernerfelt, B. (1989). Determinants of firm performance: The relative importance of economic and organizational factors. Strategic Management Journal, 10(5), 399–411. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250100502
Huang, X., Wright, R. P., Chiu, C. K., & Wang, C. (2008). Relational schemas as sources of evaluation and misevaluation of leader–member exchanges: Some initial evidence. The Leadership Quarterly, 19(3), 266–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2008.03.003
Lawler, E. J. (2001). An affect theory of social exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 107(2), 321-352. https://doi.org/10.1086/324071
Middlemas, S., & Harwood, C. (2018). No place to hide: Football players’ and coaches’ perceptions of the psychological factors influencing video feedback. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 30(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2017.1302020
McHenry, L. K., Cochran, J. L., Zakrajsek, R. A., Fisher, L. A., Couch, S. R., Hill, B. S. (2020). Elite figure skaters’ experiences of thriving in the coach-athlete relationship: A person-centered theory perspective. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, DOI:10.1080/10413200.2020.1800862
Nembhard, I. M., & Edmondson, A. (2006). Making it safe: The effects of leader inclusiveness and professional status on psychological safety and improvement efforts in health care teams. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27(7), 941–966. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.413
Newman, A., Donohue, R., & Eva, N. (2017). Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature. Human Resource Management Review, 27(3), 521–535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2017.01.001
Nicolaides, A., & Poell, R. F. (2020). “The only option is failure”: Growing safe to fail workplaces for critical reflection. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 22(3), 264–277. https://doi.org/10.1177/1523422320927296
Ortegon, K. (2021, January 18). 21.1 free relay leg Anna-Julia Kutsch quits Auburn swim and dive program. Swimswam. https://swimswam.com/21-1-free-relay-leg-anna-julia-kutsch-quits-auburn-swim-dive-program/
Pearsall, M. J., & Ellis, A. P. J. (2011). Thick as thieves: The effects of ethical orientation and psychological safety on unethical team behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(2), 401–411. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021503
Pervin, L. (1989). Persons, situations, interactions: The history of a controversy and a discussion of theoretical models. The Academy of Management Review, 14(3), 350–360. https://doi.org/10.2307/258172
Rice, S. M., Purcell, R., De Silva, S., Mawren, D., McGorry, P. D., & Parker, A. G. (2016). The mental health of elite athletes: A narrative systematic review. Sports Medicine (Auckland), 46(9), 1333–1353. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0492-2
Rhoades, L. & Eisenberger, R. (2002). Perceived organizational support: A review of the literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 698–714. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.4.698
Rozovsky, J. (2015, November 17). The five keys to a successful google team. Re:Work. https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google-team/
Schein, E., & Bennis, W. (1965). Personal and organizational change through group methods: the laboratory approach. Wiley.
Schneider, B. (1987). The people make the place. Personnel Psychology, 40(3), 437–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1987.tb00609.x
Smittick, A. L., Miner, K. N., & Cunningham, G. B. (2019). The “I” in team: Coach incivility, coach gender, and team performance in women’s basketball teams. Sport Management Review, 22(3), 419–433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2018.06.002
Stellefson, M., Becker, C. M., Paige, S. R., & Spratt, S. (2019). Planting a tree model for public health: Shifting the paradigm toward chronic wellness. American Journal of Health Education, 50(3), 147–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/19325037.2019.1590260
Webster, L.V., Hardy, J., & Hardy, L. (2017). Big hitters: Important factors characterizing team effectiveness in professional cricket. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1140–1140. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01140
