Team Cohesion, Player Attitude, and Performance Expectations in Simulation

The present study examines the relationship of team cohesion, participant attitudes, and performance expectations to actual performance results in a simulation competition. These measures were not only taken at the beginning and end of the competition but also during each decision-making period. The rigorously controlled experiment involving 389 students found a strong relationship between beginning team cohesion and performance expectations and final game performance, but little relationship between beginning participant attitudes and performance. Further, whereas participant attitudes and performance expectations changed over time in relation to game performance, team cohesion did not.