Social Facilitation

• Social facilitation


  The positive effect of the presence of others on performance. Others = watching or competing.
• Social inhibition


  The negative effect of the presence of others on performance. Others = watching or competing.
• Sporting examples of social facilitation and inhibition

  • Facilitation: Tour de France – experienced cyclists will feel encouraged and motivated by the crowd. Inhibition: novice cyclists may feel overwhelmed and anxious by a large crowd.
• Groups that may cause social facilitation and/or inhibition

  • Co-actors
  • Audience
  • Social reinforcers
  • Competitors
• Effects of social facilitation and inhibition on sporting performance

  • Facilitation – leads to high motivation and energy meaning better performance. Inhibition – leads to anxiety, apprehension meaning worse performance.
• Strategies to combat social inhibition


  1. Get players familiar with performing in front of a crowd

  2. Gradually introduce evaluation

  3. Improve focus and concentration
• Whatever strategies are chosen, all sports performers and coaches should be aware of the potentially positive (facilitation) and negative (inhibition) effects of the presence of others during performance.
• Zajonc (1965) states that, 'Coactors increase arousal levels'
• Zajonc would've used drive theory to back up his view

  The inverted U theory is also relevant
• Factors that influence performance

  • Introverts/extroverts
  • Beginners/experts
  • Simple/complex skills
  • Gross/fine skills
• Dominant response


  That which has become habit when aroused
• Situational influences on performance include home and away effect, personality factors, and previous experiences
• Elite athletes will experience social facilitation or inhibition based on cue utilisation and motor programmes stored in long-term memory
• With fans present, teams won 0.39 points more per game at home than away. With fans absent, the advantage was almost halved when teams won only 0.22 points more at home than away.
• With fans present, home teams scored 0.29 goals more per game than away teams. With fans absent, home teams scored just 0.15 goals more than the visitors.
• Home and away disadvantages and advantages

  • A large number of home supporters
  • Familiarity of the surroundings
  • A lack of travel prior to the game
  • More fouls are committed by the away team
  • More medals are won by hosts in the Olympic games
  • Home crowd can create extra pressure
  • Teams expected to win at home can 'choke'
  • Players can place more pressure on themselves at home
• Evaluation apprehension can occur when the performer feels they are being judged, even if this is not the case
• Strategies to minimise social inhibition

  1. Develop mental rehearsal

  2. Train in front of others and gradually increase the numbers

  3. Improve selective attention and cut out the effect of the audience

  4. Reduce the importance of the event

  5. Avoid social comparison with others

  6. Increase self-efficacy

  7. Use stress management techniques

  8. Use attributions correctly

  9. Ensure skills are over-learnt so dominant response occurs