Perceived team and player efficacy in hockey

Area of Science:

• Sport Psychology
• Motor Learning
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Understanding the interplay between individual and team perceptions of capability is crucial in competitive sports.
• Previous research has explored efficacy beliefs, but the specific dynamics in collegiate ice hockey across a season require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the seasonal patterns of team and player efficacy in collegiate ice hockey.
• To investigate the relationships between player efficacy, team efficacy, and objective team performance.
• To determine how efficacy beliefs fluctuate in response to game outcomes (wins and losses).

Main Methods:

• Assessed team and player efficacy beliefs for 6 collegiate ice hockey teams before 32 games.
• Utilized official game statistics, factor analyzed to create a composite measure of team performance (performance outcome).
• Employed consensus analysis to assess belief homogeneity and meta-analysis of regression equations to examine predictive relationships.

Main Results:

• Players demonstrated homogeneous efficacy beliefs regarding their own and their team's capabilities.
• Team efficacy was a superior predictor of team performance compared to player efficacy.
• Team efficacy significantly increased after wins and decreased after losses, while player efficacy remained unaffected by game outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Shared perceptions of team capability are prevalent in collegiate ice hockey.
• Team efficacy is a more potent driver of on-ice success than individual player efficacy.
• Team efficacy is a dynamic construct, responsive to competitive results, highlighting its importance in sustained performance.