GROUP COHESION AND ADHERENCE IN EXERCISE CLASSES

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship of group cohesion to adherence in women participating in exercise classes. Two measures of adherence were examined: absenteeism and lateness. Results from a stepwise discriminant analysis conducted on the absenteeism data revealed that the two absenteeism groups could be differentiated on the basis of their endorsement of individual attractions to the group-task (ATG-T) and-social (ATG-S), with individuals who were absent less reporting greater ATG-T and ATG-S than those who were absent more. The results of a stepwise discriminant analysis conducted on the lateness variable revealed that ATG-T significantly differentiated between the two groups. Individuals who were late less scored higher on ATG-T than did those who were late more often. These findings provide support for the suggestion that selected aspects of group cohesion play a role in the adherence behavior of female exercise participants.