Adjustment to club activities: Club members' interpersonal behavior and team captains' leadership style

Abstract

The present study examined the relation between club members' exclusive attitudes toward other small group members and their captains' leadership style, with respect to the adjustment to activities in junior high school extracurricular athletic clubs. Participants, 304 seventh-grade students (183 boys, 121 girls) belonging to athletic clubs at 4 junior high schools, completed a questionnaire. The following results were obtained: When diligent captains were authoritarian, members who were exclusive to other small group members participated in the club activities more diligently than when diligent captains were non-authoritarian. In addition, members belonging to authoritarian clubs and who were exclusive to other small group members were more satisfied with the atmosphere in their clubs than were similarly exclusive youth belonging to non-authoritarian clubs. We conclude that the relation between club members' exclusive attitudes toward other small group members and their captains' leadership style had a great influence on members' adjustment to club activities.