Group cohesion and performance in university concert bands

The current research looks at the perceived cohesion of the members of the percussion section compared to the brass and woodwind instrument sections members. Typically, each percussion member plays one on a part, whereas, a brass or woodwind section there are multiple people on a part. The theory behind this research is that a good percussion section, because their individual contributions are more identifiable, will have a higher perception of cohesion than a brass/woodwind section, which allows for some diffusion of responsibility. Three Midwest universities' band students and directors were used in the study. Band students were given two surveys during their normally scheduled class time, a group cohesion measure and a performance measure, along with a demographic sheet. The band directors filled out the performance measure only. There was no relationship between the band director's rating and the group cohesion score. There was no difference between bands or sections in cohesiveness or overall rated performance. The hypothesis was supported in that the percussion section had a much stronger relationship between cohesion and performance than brass/woodwind sections.