Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the phenomenon of social loafing?
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Social facilitation is a psychological concept relating to the tendency for the presence of others to improve a person's performance on a task. While this might seem like a straightforward definition, it is actually a very complex concept with many nuances. It also has a long history, which includes the development of a variety of theories to help explain the phenomenon in greater depth. To better understand the extent of this history and the layers of complexity, it's critical to learn about the theories, related concepts, and implications. History of Social FacilitationFirst, let's consider a brief history of how the concept evolved. In its most basic form, it was first proposed by researcher Norman Triplett in 1898. Triplett first studied bicycle racing by looking at records from a cycling association. He noticed a curious phenomenon whereby cyclists who were racing against others performed better than those who were trying to beat their own times. Triplett was fascinated by this idea and went on to study the same concept among children doing a fishing reel task. His results showed that out of 40 children, half worked faster when competing with other children, one quarter worked more slowly, and one quarter showed equal performance. This wasn't the first time that research revealed conflicting results related to social facilitation. To deal with these conflicting findings, Zajonc and Sales proposed in 1966 that the "dominant response" was the explanatory factor. They argued that for tasks that come more naturally (the so-called dominant response), performance would be facilitated or improved. But, for complex tasks where that dominant response had not been learned, performance could be impaired. Definition of Social FacilitationIn terms of a basic definition of social facilitation, social facilitation refers to improvement in performance induced by the real, implied, or imagined presence of others. Two types of social facilitation have also been defined: co-action effects and audience effects:
In addition, social facilitation is thought to involve three factors: physiological factors (drive and arousal), cognitive factors (distraction and attention), and affective factors (anxiety and self-presentation).
Examples of Social FacilitationWhat are some examples of social facilitation in action? You've probably experienced some of these in your own life or witnessed them among people you know or those in the public sphere. Some examples include the following:
Related ConceptsSocial facilitation is related to several other concepts including the Yerkes-Dodson Law and Social Loafing. Yerkes-Dodson lawThe Yerkes-Dodson law relates to the theory that performance will vary depending on how easy/difficult a task is (or how familiar you are with a task). In other words, for tasks that you know very well and that you have rehearsed, your performance will be enhanced. On the other hand, for tasks that are complex or for which you have no "dominant response," your performance will be lower. If plotted on a graph, this is thought to like like an "upside down U." As an example, consider that if you have studied well for an exam, your performance might be better in a testing situation because your alertness increases (your focus) and you work more quickly and with greater precision than when you are just testing yourself at home. In contrast, imagine a situation in which you've barely studied at all for a test. All of a sudden, you are in a high-pressure situation needing to remember facts that you have little grasp of. This adds to your cognitive load, making your performance even worse than it might have been if you were just testing yourself at home. Social LoafingSocial loafing is a related but different concept from social facilitation. Social loafing refers to the idea that when a group of people is working together on a task, and no one individual is likely to be the focus (of success or failure), then performance might be decreased overall. This is thought to result because each individual person feels lower responsibility for the outcome. Theories on Social FacilitationWe've already touched on the various theories of social facilitation, but we can review these again here all in one place. Activation TheoryThis is the theory proposed by Zajonc, which explains social facilitation as the result of arousal that is triggered by the presence of others (or the perceived evaluation of others). Alertness HypothesisRelated to the Activation Theory is the Alertness Hypothesis, which proposes that you become more alert when you have observers and therefore perform better. Evaluation Apprehension HypothesisThe Evaluation Apprehension Hypothesis (or Evaluation Approach) posits that it is the evaluation of others that matters rather than just their mere presence. Self Presentation TheorySelf Presentation Theory asserts that people are motivated to make good impressions with others and maintain a positive self image. In other words, your performance will only improve when you feel like the audience is evaluating you. Social Orientation TheoryThis theory asserts that people with a positive orientation to social situations will experience social facilitation, whereas those with a negative orientation will experience impairment. Feedback Loop ModelThe Feedback Loop Model proposes that when being observed by others, you become more aware of yourself, and that this state makes you more aware of differences between how you want to behave and how you actually behave. An example of this would be working more diligently on a task when others are watching, because you become more sensitive to mistakes you would normally make. Capacity ModelThe Capacity Model refers to the idea that you have a limited capacity in terms of your working memory and that influences how tasks are affected. Those that require less working memory (easy tasks) are enhanced, while those that require more working memory (hard tasks) are done more poorly. Research on Social FacilitationWhat about recent research on social facilitation? In a 2002 meta analysis three conclusions were drawn. First, it was determined that the presence of others only increased arousal when completing a complex task. Second, the presence of others increased speed of performance for a simple task, but decreased it for a complex task. Finally, it was shown that social facilitation effects did not relate to evaluation apprehension. Later, in 2012, Murayama and Elliot showed in another meta-analysis that performance goals were more important in terms of effects on performance than was the effect of competition with other people. Influencing FactorsWhat factors influence social facilitation? We've already considered many of these, but let's create a summary as a reminder:
Implications of Social FacilitationWhat implications can we draw from social facilitation? In other words, why do you need to know about this concept or why should it be important to you? If you think about it, understanding this concept may help you to improve your own performance on tasks. Below are some tips on how to do that, whether you are applying it to your grades in school or performance in a sporting venue:
A Word From VerywellThe concept of social facilitation has a long history and involves a variety of interrelated ideas. The main takeaway should be that sometimes working with others (or performing for an audience) will enhance your performance, and other times it may hinder it. If you can learn the factors that influence those outcomes, you can put social facilitation to work for you in all situations. Which of the following represents an example of social facilitation?Which of the following is an example of social facilitation? People are more likely to work much harder in a group than when they are alone.
Which of the following is true of social facilitation?Answer and Explanation: The correct answer is C. The presence of others increases a person's arousal. Social facilitation leads to an increase in performance and arousal due to social influence.
Which of the following scenarios is an example of social loafing?Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the phenomenon of social loafing? Exerting minimal effort on a group project.
Which statement is said to explain the social facilitation effect?For instance, the Yerkes-Dodson law, when applied to social facilitation, states that "the mere presence of other people will enhance the performance in speed and accuracy of well-practiced tasks, but will degrade in the performance of less familiar tasks." Compared to their performance when alone, when in the presence ...
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