Social Facilitation Flashcards
what is social facilitation
the positive influence of others, who may be watching or competing, on sport performance
what is social inhibition
the negative influence of others, who may be watching or competing, which leads to a decrease in sports performance
what is evaluation apprehension
- the increase in arousal level caused by being evaluated/judged
- performance will be enhanced or impaired, only in the presence of persons who can approve or disapprove of our actions
- leads to an amplified level of attention that is both beneficial and detrimental
what are the positives of the evaluation apprehension
- can be useful at times, in spite of it’s tendency to create anxiety
- at high levels, evaluation apprehension can inform people that the situation is important and that they should focus their attention
- research indicates that a person is less easily distracted when they have a heightened level of evaluation apprehension
what are the negatives of the evaluation apprehension
- the heightened level of attention can create anxiety
what factors/effects, can effect social facilitation
- home/away
- introverts/extroverts
- beginners/experts
- simple/complex skills
- gross/fine skills
how does home/away affect social facilitation
- teams often win more home than away
- nature of the audience e.g. hostile away crowd or alienated by the environment
- some may be pressured by people they know or think they are being evaluated more as an individual
- nature of the audience can affect arousal levels of performer e.g noisy or aggressive can increase anxiety
- the physical proximity of the audience can affect arousal levels e.g. very close the performer may feel threatened
how does type A personality affect social facilitation
- high levels of personal stress
- already high stress/internal arousal so presence of observers could over stress/overwhelm them/arousal could increase above optimal arousal, which will decrease performance (inverted U theory)
how does type B personality affect social facilitation
- low levels of personal stress
- already low stress/internal arousal so presence of observers could increase arousal in a positive way/ to their optimal levels, which will increase performance (inverted U theory)
how do extroverts affect social facilitation
- tend to seek social situations with high arousal levels so perform better with an audience
- low internal arousal, due to inhibited RAS, therefore an audience is likely to increase arousal and increase performance
how do introverts affect social facilitation
- tend to shy away from social situations so perform worse in front of a crowd
- high internal arousal, due to RAS, therefore an audience is likely to increase arousal over the optimal level, and decrease performance (inverted U/catastrophe theory)
how do elite performers affect social facilitation
- more likely to experience social facilitations + do well with an audience
- dominant responses are more likely to be correct. distractions are less likely to interfere with these almost automated responses
- the presence of peers can increase a sense of pride and improve performance
how do beginner/novice performers affect social facilitation
- more likely to have a decrease in performance
- their dominant responses are likely to be incorrect
- their skills/motor patterns are not yet learnt, so when distractions arise it will interfere with performing skills
- performing in front of people you know can increase anxiety levels and hinder performance
how do simple/gross skills affect social facilitation e.g. triple jump, shot put, javelin
- high arousal caused by the audience can facilitate and help performance
- these types of skills don’t require high levels of perceptual processing and are often dynamic in nature, requiring high levels of arousal or drive
- e.g. triple jump requires high levels of arousal, therefore it’s common practice for athletes to interact with the audience and to encourage their support
how do complex/fine skills affect social facilitation e.g. snooker, golf putting
- lower levels of arousal are more desirable to optimise performance. therefore the presence of others as an audience can inhibit performance of these skills
- they require more concentration + often more complex decision making and therefore an audience may interfere rather than help
- e.g. snooker players block out the audience and avoid interacting with others so that arousal levels remain low
