Unraveling relationship dynamics in sports teams: A primer on the social relations model

Interpersonal behavior in sports teams are inherently intricate. The Social Relations Model (SRM) presents a compelling framework to conceptualize and dissect these complexities, enabling the empirical testing of theories concerning relationships within group settings. The SRM decomposes dyadic measurements obtained from a round-robin design into components at the individual (actor and partner) level, relationship level, and team level. Leveraging data on need satisfaction, as experienced by the coach, team captain and two other athletes in relation to each other across 96 sports teams, we showcase the application of the SRM. A step-by-step introduction to the implementation of the model in R is provided. We elucidate how the SRM facilitates the investigation of research questions that deepen our understanding of team dynamics. Our illustration reveals that while the team effect exhibits minimal explanatory power over variability, substantial variability in need satisfaction is accounted for by both individual factors (actor and partner) and relationship effects. Notably, considerable differences are observed between sports teams in the extent to which coaches elicited need satisfaction in their team members. On average, coaches elicit lower levels of need satisfaction compared to other team members. Reciprocal relationships are evident in the team captain-athlete dyad and the athlete-athlete dyad, but not in dyadic relationships with the coach. In sum, this tutorial illustrates how analyzing dyadic data from a round-robin design using the SRM can enhance our understanding of dyadic relationship data within sports teams.