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Small Group Research, Vol. 37, No. 6, 701-720 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1046496406294545

Member Diversity and Cohesion and Performance in Walking Groups

Kim M. Shapcott

Albert V. Carron

Shauna M. Burke

University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

Michael H. Bradshaw

Kansas State University, Manhattan

Paul A. Estabrooks

Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship of group member diversity in task-related attributes (i.e., self-efficacy, level of previous physical activity, and personal goals) and task-unrelated attributes (i.e., ethnicity and gender) to task cohesiveness and task performance in walking groups (N varied from 1,324 to 1,392 groups for the analyses). For the task-related attributes, diversity in level of previous physical activity was significantly related to both task cohesion and group performance—as diversity increased, cohesion and performance decreased. For the task-unrelated attributes, diversity in gender was related to task cohesion—as diversity increased, cohesion decreased. Gender diversity was unrelated to group performance. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the dynamics of task-oriented groups.

Key Words: goals • self-efficacy • physical activity • group composition • taskoriented groups • gender • ethnicity

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This Article
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