Social Facilitaion and Inhibitions

• Social facilitation 


  External factors having a positive impact on players
• Social inhibition 


  External factors having a negative impact on players
• Evaluation apprehension theory

  • Mere presence of others not sufficiently arousing to produce social facilitation effect
  • arousal increases only when the performer perceived the audience to be assessing or judging
  • perceived ‘evaluation’ of the audience inhibits performance
  • but for some they rely on evaluations to stimulate arousal
• The home advantage effect


  Larger supportive home crowds are believed to provide the home team with an advantage. This is due to the nature of the audience.

  a performer may feel pressure in front of people they know or that they may be evaluated more.
• Other influences (audience)

  • Proximity effect
  • distraction
  • nature of audience
• Factors determining whether SF or SI occurs

  • classification if skill
  • personality factors
  • level of experience