Are you thinking what I am thinking? Measurement implications and empirical support for Shared Mental Models in sports

Doctoral examination procedure finished at: Doctoral examination procedure at University of Münster

Start date of doctoral examination procedure: 02/04/2018

End date of doctoral examination procedure: 09/06/2021

Name of the doctoral candidate: Raue, Charlotte

Doctoral subject: Psychologie

Doctoral degree: Dr. phil.

Awarded by: Department 07 - Psychology and Sport Studies

Sport teams aim to win. It is that simple. Actually winning, however, is not simple, the team’sperformance derives from a multitude of interdependent factors and interrelated tasks coordinatedby team members. Sport psychologists focus on cognitive and social factors, which positivelyinfluence the team’s performance. Previous research has highlighted that Shared Mental Models(SMMs) are cognitive and team trust are social factors. So far, little research empirically supportsthe influence of these factors on team performance in sports, mainly because of measurementdifficulties of SMMs. Therefore, the goal of this dissertation is twofold: firstly, to develop and testan appropriate method for measuring SMMs in sports, and secondly, to apply and confirm theempirical results of SMMs in sports. For this purpose, three studies were conducted. The resultsconfirm that measuring SMMs in sports is complicated. Two measurement methods werevalidated, a questionnaire and a video-based measurement. However, the two methods were foundto measure distinct facets of SMMs. The questionnaire quantifies a deliberate component, whereasthe video-based measurement measures an intuitive component. Furthermore, while thequestionnaire is helpful to compare research even across traditional and esports teams, it falls shortof being situation-specific. In contrast, a video-based measurement overcomes this deficit and wasconfirmed as a valid solution and a promising method. The results further support previous resultsof team trust and collective efficacy influencing SMMs, in turn influencing team performance bothin traditional sports as well as esports teams. In contrast, the results are inconclusive or not confirmthe influence of experience and longevity on SMMs. In conclusion, video-based measurement toolsand more ecologically valid measurements form the future for studying the influence of SMMs insitu to show the impact on the complexity of interrelated coordination of team members. Teamtrust and collective efficacy influence SMMs, which in turn are helpful for teams to achieve theirwished outcome – winning.