I or We? How Self-Categorization Shapes Decision-Making in Team Sports
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.386Keywords:
Social identity, Self-categorization, Group membership, Decision-making, Basketball, Elite sport, Team sportAbstract
Introduction: According to the Social Identity Approach, self-categorization influences how individuals define themselves, either as individuals or as members of a group, thereby affecting performance outcomes. To deepen our understanding of social identity's role, we conducted an experiment to examine its impact on a critical objective performance determinant: decision-making.
Method: Ten professional basketball players viewed 14 immersive video clips twice, under two conditions: (a) personal identity and (b) social identity, with randomized conditions and clip orders. Upon each clip’s conclusion, participants mimed and verbalized their decision as in a real game. In the personal identity condition, they were instructed to compete individually and make decisions that would maximize their own performance in this type of match situation. In the social identity condition, they were instructed to compete on behalf of their team and make decisions that would optimize team performance. To strengthen self-categorization, additional induction strategies were used, including image projections, team-specific jerseys, and tailored questionnaires. The data were analyzed using generalized linear models.
Results: The analysis of 270 decisions revealed that players shot significantly more in the personal identity condition and passed more in the social identity condition. Reaction times also differed between conditions, but only for the drive decision.
Discussion: These findings contribute to a growing body of research highlighting the influence of psychosocial factors on decision-making in team sports. They suggest that social identity can shape athletes’ choices, underscoring the importance of integrating social and psychological dimensions into models of decision-making.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Alan Guyomarch, Benoit Cottereau, Simon Martin, Emilie Pété, Mickael Campo (Author)
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