Social facilitation and social inhibition

Question 1

Definition

Answer 1

the effect of having others present during performances can be either positive of negative

1. Positive = social facilitation
2. Negative = social inhibition

• other performers = co-actors
• spectators = the audience

Question 2

Zajonc 4 factors affecting performance

Answer 2

1. The presence of an audience increases arousal
2. Increase in arousal will trigger the dominant response
3. If a skill is well-learnt, response will be correct
4. If the skill is new or poorly learnt, the response will be incorrect

Question 3

Evaluation apprehension

Answer 3

• something performers can suffer with
• due to other people observing and ridiculing them
• increases arousal levels which can increase factors such as HR

Question 4

Effects of social facilitation and social inhibition on performance

Answer 4

• the presence of an audience will spur some athletes to a great performance
• others will ‘choke’ (have a negative performance) due to the presence of an audience

Question 5

5 different social facilitation and inhibition effects + explanations

Answer 5

1. Home vs away

• teams more often to win at home, maybe due to the nature of the audience
• some research suggests its harder to win at home due to increased pressure

2. Personality factors (introverts vs extroverts)

• type A (high anxiety) personalities perform worse in front of audience than Type B (low anxiety) personalities
• extroverts tend to perform better than introverts in front of crowds

3. Levels of experiences

• previous experience in front of audiences can help alleviate nerves and improve performance
• performers who have previously failed in front of audience may expect to fail again
• elite performers better in front of crowd due to dominant response being correct

4. Type of skills/activities

• gross skills are helped by high arousal
• fine and complex skills are more desirable at lower levels of arousal

5. Other influences

• the nature of the crowd - if hostile and noisy a performer may feel more anxious
• the proximity of the audience eg close can make the performer feel threatened

Question 6

Strategies to minimise social inhibition

Answer 6

1. Imagery techniques to ‘shut out’ the audience
2. Relaxation techniques
3. Training with an audience present
4. Preparing to deal with negative reactions of co-actors
5. Decrease the importance of an event
6. Remaining calm and focused