The relationship between different leadership styles and group cohesion in outdoor challenge education.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study investigated the relationship between different leadership styles of outdoor educators and group cohesion, and determined specific relationships between varying leadership styles and group cohesion. Outdoor educators face the quandary of how best to engage students in group cohesion building. To do this, educators need to understand how different leadership styles impact groups. While research has concluded that participants in challenge courses report a perception of greater group cohesion solely as a result of their participation (Glass, 1999), it was unclear how important the style of the leader is. Because the feeling of belonging and trust is crucial for adolescents, outdoor educators need to understand how to facilitate the process.
This study used two quantitative tools to measure perceptions of group cohesion and evaluation of leadership style. 359 ninth graders, aged 13–16, who participated in a four-day canoe trip on the Lower Colorado River filled out a questionnaire about group cohesion and a questionnaire about leadership style. The Path-Goal Leadership Theory, which gives leaders scores on four styles (directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented), was used as the leadership measurement. After data collection, the group cohesion scores were correlated with each leadership score to determine the relationship between group cohesion and leadership style.
All of the styles had a statistically significant correlation with group cohesion except for the supportive style. The following conclusions were drawn from these results: An understanding of a variety of leadership styles gives leaders the much-needed ability to shift their style according to each situation; it is important for leaders to think about when to use different leadership styles; awareness will make for more effective leaders; leaders should avoid falling back and relying on a single style that is more comfortable and trying to use it in all situations; leaders need to know when to dump one style and try another; and, an ability to use multiple leadership styles will make leaders more confident and more effective in helping facilitate group cohesion.
The final product of this study is a leadership guide for outdoor educator training based on these findings.