social facilitation

describe social facilitation theory

the effect that people watching has on performance

performers can be socially facilitated: the positive influence of other/audience who are present at the time on performers

performers can be socially inhibited: the negative influence of others/audience who are present at the time on performers

how can social inhibition be reduced

• gradually introduce an audience into training and to competitive events

• gradually introduce some performance evaluation (to counter evaluation apprehension)

• reduce the perceived importance of the event

• use selective attention to block out the crowd and focus on the game

what is Zajonc’s theory of the effects of others on performance

Zajonc states that there are four types of ‘others’ present who are watching the performer(s)

• audience- just watches

• social reinforcers- either encourage or criticise performance e.g. coach or friends

• co actors- are doing the sport alongside you e.g. teammates

• Competitive co-actors- are in conflict with the performer e.g. the other team

‘others’ cause an increase in arousal which increases the chance of dominant response

in Zajonc’s theory how do ‘others’ affect a performers dominant response

others cause an increase in arousal which means the performers dominant response is more likely to occur

dominant response- the response the performer believes they should use in a highly aroused situation

Cognitive performers: may fear evaluation from ‘others’ and struggle to cope with being in a high arousal situation. This may lead to a low level dominant response (social inhibition)

Autonomous performers: are able to deal with high arousal and perform a high level dominant response (social facilitation)

what is evaluation apprehension

the negative influence of others if the performer feels they are being judged

how can the fear of evaluation be made worse

• if the audience is known

• if the performer lacks confidence

• if the audience is critical

• if the audience contains experts

what are some methods that coaches and players could do that aid performers to cope with evaluation apprehension

• train in front of a crowd

• gradually introduce performance evaluation

• use peer support

• use selective attention to block out the crowd and focus on the game

• lower arousal with relaxation techniques