Psychological safety as a pathway to reducing vulnerabilities under pressure in football: the role of team-based psychological resources

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The present study investigated the relationships between goal commitment, team cohesion, collective efficacy, psychological safety, and vulnerabilities under pressure in elite football players. Specifically, the study examined how goal commitment is associated with team cohesion and collective efficacy, and how these psychological constructs, in turn, are associated with psychological safety and vulnerabilities under pressure. Three hundred sixty elite-level football players in Türkiye participated in the study. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesised relationships. The findings revealed that goal commitment was positively associated with both team cohesion and collective efficacy. Team cohesion and collective efficacy, in turn, were positively associated with psychological safety, which was significantly associated with vulnerabilities under pressure. Among the variables examined, team cohesion emerged as the most influential factor in attenuating vulnerabilities under pressure, with psychological safety also playing a meaningful role as a mediating mechanism. These findings suggest that coaches and sport psychologists should prioritise psychologically safe team climates through autonomy-supportive leadership and collaborative goal-setting, as such collective resources may serve as essential mechanisms against vulnerabilities under pressure.