Related Experiment Videos
Effects of leadership style and group dynamics on enjoyment of physical activity
L D Fox1, W J Rejeski, L Gauvin
1Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, USA.
Purpose:
The primary purpose of this study was to examine the independent and combined effects of leadership style and group dynamics on the enjoyment of physical activity.
Design:
A completely randomized 2 x 2 factorial design was used in which the manipulation of "leadership style" (socially enriched vs. bland) was crossed with a manipulation of "group dynamics" (socially enriched vs. bland).
Setting:
The study was conducted in an aerobics studio on a university campus.
Subjects:
The sample included 48 male and 42 female undergraduate students who were moderately active.
Intervention:
Each participant was involved in a single session of step aerobics. A female graduate student provided either an enriched or bland series of interactions to manipulate leadership style, and a trained group of planted undergraduates was used to promote either an enriched or bland group environment.
Measures:
The outcome measures of interest were enjoyment and the probability of engaging in a similar activity in the future.
Results:
Participants in the enriched leadership style plus enriched group dynamics condition reported higher enjoyment than did participants in the other three conditions. On average, the level of enjoyment was 22.07% higher in this condition than in the other three conditions (p < .001). The probability of future involvement was 13.93% higher for participants in the enriched group environment, irrespective of leadership style (p < .03).
Conclusions:
Enjoyment during physical activity is optimized when a positive and supportive leadership style is coupled with an enriched and supportive group environment. Future research is required to extend these findings to other activities and populations.