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Abstract: Psychological safety has historically been examined in the context of the social and organizational sciences with limited attention in the sport domain. Psychologically safe environments increase learning behavior, performance, communication, innovation, job attitudes, and individual well-being. A team with high levels of psychological safety demonstrates high levels of trust and respect throughout the hierarchy; there is an appreciation for input, an allowance for experimentation, and a collaborative approach where members find the best solution to a problem within a given context. A team with low levels of psychological safety is riddled with fear, conformity, and accentuated power distance. The leader exhibits unpredictable behavior and takes an authoritarian approach in which subordinates strive to please the leader rather than explore their highest potential. Psychological safety offers a framework for further enhancing the sport team climate and merits exploration theoretically and empirically in this domain. The purpose of this manuscript is to theoretically explore and apply this social construct to the sport domain and stimulate empirical research on psychological safety in sport. This manuscript outlines the construct of psychological safety, the antecedents and outcomes of psychological safety, and demonstrates its applicability to sport teams.
Keywords: team culture; team performance; safety; fear; leadership
Team climate has been the subject of substantial research within sport psychology and coaching science (Cronin & Allen, 2015, 2018; Fry & Gano-Overway, 2010; Hogue et al., 2013; Into et al., 2020; Strobel et al., 2018) and has also garnered recent mainstream media attention which has heightened its relevance (Beideck, 2019; Boboltz, 2019; Eldridge, 2020; McCarriston & Bengel, 2020; Ortegon, 2021; Quezada & Schlabach, 2019; Williams, 2019). Auburn University swimmer, Anna-Julia Kutsch, quit her team due to the team environment and released this statement in January 2021 following her departure:
"The existing culture of the Auburn swim program-in terms of both the athletic and psychological climate- was not allowing me to maximize my potential as an athlete and person. The [coaches] lack fundamental traits which prevent them from connecting with their athletes, having positive communication and creating an environment of trust and understanding. This made it increasingly difficult to grow as a person and athlete" (Ortegon, 2021).
The aforementioned statement outlines the importance of the team climate from an athlete's perspective. Additionally, it...