Developing Team Cohesion

Within military organizations, research findings have lent support to the positive influence cohesion has on group performance in combat and non-combat areas. Beyond performance, research findings show that cohesion influences the job satisfaction, and health of military members, particularly under highly stressful conditions, such as those encountered in combat or extended deployments. The purpose of this research effort is to further analyze the strategies that should be used to develop cohesiveness among Air Force members. This was done by testing the extent to which cohesion changed when familiarization and challenging situations were coupled in a technical training course geared towards junior military officers. The findings suggest that over short periods of stressful activity, with a familiarized group, cohesion as a whole increases at an accelerated rate. Furthermore, an individual's pre-conceived bias towards group formation does not have much of an impact on the development of cohesion within the group.