Consulting on Tour: A Dual-Phase Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing Intervention and Group Functioning in Elite Youth Cricket

In a one group pretest-posttest design, 15 elite academy cricketers were exposed to two Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing (PDMS) sessions during a pre-season tour. Within PDMS1, athletes disclosed (via prepared speeches) relationship-oriented information and within PDMS2, mastery-oriented information. Social identity, social identity content, and collective efficacy were measured at baseline (one-week before the tour), post-PDMS1, mid-point, and post-PDMS2, while social validation was also obtained after each intervention session. Quantitative data revealed significant increases in social identity and friendships identity content at post-PDMS1, and results identity content and collective efficacy at post-PDMS2. Qualitative social validation data highlighted the thoughts and feelings of the athletes before their speeches and supported the effectiveness of the PDMS sessions. In sum, the data suggest practitioners can develop team outcomes (e.g., a focus on results) through developing specific aspects of teams’ identities. Study limitations, practitioner guidelines, and areas for future research are discussed.