Social Facilitation And Inhibition Flashcards
Define social facilitation
The positive effect of the presence of others on performance
Define social inhibition
The negative effect of the presence of others on performance
What are the 4 categories that can cause behavioural affects due to others present
Audience
Co actors
Competitors/competitive co actors
Social reinforcers
Define audience
People who are watching the event either as spectators at the event or as a TV audience
Define co actors
Those doing the same task but not involved in direct competition
Define competitors/competitive co actors
Those who are in direct competition with you
Define social reinforcers
Those who have a direct influence on the event or performer
What does Zajoncs model say response is dependant on
The degree of difficulty of the skill (simple/complex) and the level of experience that the performer has (novice/pro)
What are the 2 types of people present in Zajoncs model
Passive people
Interactive people
Describe passive people according to Zajoncs model
Passive people do not have a direct influence on the event, but their presence may have an impact on the performer
Describe interactive people according to Zajoncs model
Interactive people do have a direct influence. They can give encouragement or advice but could also become a distraction
What are the examples of passive people according to Zajoncs model
Audience
Co actors
What are the examples of interactive people according to Zajoncs model
Competitors/competitive co actors
Social reinforcers
What level of experience and degree of difficulty causes social inhibition
Complex and novice
What level of experience and degree of difficulty causes social facilitation
Expert and simple
Why does being a novice cause social inhibition
A novice will experience anxiety and over arousal when being watched and may be unable to cope with the pressure from the crowd
This causes poor execution of skills leading to social inhibition
Why do complex tasks lead to social inhibition
They require lots of interpretation of numerous items of information
Ability to process information is reduced when stressed so arousal increases causing social inhibition
Why does being an expert cause social facilitation
Experts are able to cope with the demands of the crowd so are able to be motivated and encouraged by it
Therefore skills are enhanced and social facilitation occurs
Why do simple tasks lead to social facilitation
If a skill is simple or ‘easy’ a performer would want to work harder to not be the first to lose and would try harder causing social facilitation
Define evaluation apprehension
The perceived fear of being judged
Who may be watching a person to cause evaluation apprehension
A knowledgeable person (eg a scout or professional)
A known person to the performer (eg a peer or a family member)
What feelings may increase due to people watching your performance?
Motivation
Increase anxiety and arousal (could lead to social inhibition or decreased performance)
Evaluation apprehension
Low self efficacy (leading to inhibition)
High trait anxiety
How can we prevent social inhibition or evaluation apprehension
Familiarisation
Decreasing the importance of the task
Improving focus and concentration via selective attention
Imagery, positive self talk, negative thought stopping, mental rehearsal
Increasing self efficacy
Practising skills until they’re grooved
Gradually introducing evaluation
How does the presence of others link to arousal & dominant response for an expert
For an expert dominant responses are well learned and familiar so there is no added pressure with the presence of others
They can perform skills with limited thought
The presence of others lifts the performer and promotes social facilitation
How does the presence of others link to arousal & dominant response for a novice
Novices are unlikely to have an automatic learned response, and will struggle to identify the correct response meaning dominant response will be incorrect and the skill will be performed incorrectly
For a novices responses are more complex so require lots of attention to be performed correctly, the crowd impacts this and causes social inhibition
What does Zajoncs model show
It shows that the presence of other can cause an increase in arousal
What can high arousal lead to
Less information being processed, meaning dominant response must be used
