Gender differences in collegiate athletes' perceptions of cohesion: A comparison study using mixed methodology

The purpose of this study was to investigate collegiate athletes' perceptions of cohesion with gender in mind. A mixed methods approach was used using the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ) as the quantitative instrument for data collection and semi-structured interviews for qualitative data collection. 189 (101 male and 88 female) student athletes from three universities participated in the quantitative phase of the study and 17 (nine male and eight female) athletes were interviewed. Statistical results revealed that there were no gender differences in perceptions of cohesion across the subscales of the GEQ or in social cohesion, which confirmed the null hypotheses. Qualitative interviews validated statistical results in some aspects, but found differences in important and practical aspects of cohesion. Recommendations for coaches and sport psychology practitioners were given.