Last Updated on January 28, 2023 by Mike Robinson
Imagine that you are out on your mountain bike when another rider approaches from behind. Will you quicken your pace, slow it down, or ignore the other rider entirely? The first social psychology experiment was a study of a similar social circumstance conducted by psychologist Norman Triplett in 1898. You’re more likely to speed up, says Triplet. This behavior is social facilitation, the propensity to work more effectively when there are other people around.
Example of Social Facilitation on Performance
Does mere presence always improve performance? The answer is no. If you have faith in your skills, you will probably behave more naturally around other people. Your performance is more likely to suffer if you are not confident.
In a different well-known study, pool players at a student union were college students. Generally, confident, good players made 71% of their shots. When others observed them, the accuracy increased to 80%. Less assured, average players make 36% fewer shots when someone is watching them than they do when they are not.
Another effect of having other people nearby is social loafing. When a person is a part of a team, they are more likely to work diligently than when they are on their own. According to one study, when playing blindfolded tug of war, participants pulled harder if they believed they were competing alone. They put forth less effort when they thought others were on their side.
Example of Social Facilitation on Personal Interactions
The next time you are speaking with a friend, lean in closer and observe their response. Most people start to feel uncomfortable and move back to their original distance. Holding their ground may involve turning to the side, averting their eyes, or setting up a barrier with their arm. It should be simple to move your subjects back a few feet if you edge towards them repeatedly.
Your mere proximity and presence here amounted to an invasion of that person’s personal space, which is the area around the body that they consider private and under the individual’s control.
Personal space basically extends beyond “I” or “me” boundaries and into the immediate environment. The fact that many train commuters prefer to stand up to avoid sitting too close to strangers is another example of how important personal space is.
Proxemics: How Humans View Their Space
Proxemics is the systematic study of social norms governing the use of private space. These conventions may help to explain why people who are offended by someone else occasionally yell, “Get out of my face.”
Would being too close to a good friend be acceptable? Perhaps not. Different distances are considered comfortable or acceptable depending on the relationships and activities involved. Hall distinguished four fundamental distances: intimate, personal, social, and public.
Social Distancing Norms
Cultural differences also impact spatial norms. People in many Middle Eastern nations hold their faces inches apart while conversing. English people in Western Europe talk while sitting closer to one another than French people do. On the other hand, the Dutch sit farther apart than the French.
Simply crossing a border can significantly alter spatial behavior in many parts of the world. In North America, we limit our face-to-face interactions by the following distances:
- Intimate: The most exclusive and private area for most people is about 18 inches from the skin. Face-to-face entry into this area is only permitted under special circumstances or for special individuals. This space is for making love, comforting others, or holding babies.
- Personal: This is the appropriate level of friendship interaction and distance. Its distance from the body ranges from 18 inches to 4 feet. In essence, personal distance keeps people close to one another.
- Social: In the vicinity of 4 to 12 feet, impersonal business and casual social interactions occur. People avoid most touching at this distance, which also formalizes conversation by requiring louder voice projection. Important people frequently maintain a social distance from others by imposingly widening their desks.
- Public: At this range, formal interactions occur (about 12 feet or more from the body). When people are more than 12 feet apart, they appear flat and need to speak louder to be heard. Formal speeches, lectures, business meetings, and similar events take place outside of the public eye.
How to Benefit From Social Facilitation
You can understand your relationship with others by looking at the distance you feel comfortable maintaining between yourselves. Although spatial behavior is very consistent, remember to be mindful of cultural variations.
When speaking, it can be awkward for both parties if one tries to move closer while the other keeps moving back. This misunderstanding could be because different nationalities have different standards for personal space. This can cause miscommunications where one person feels like the other is getting too close while also making the person moving in closer feel rejected.
Although the mere fact that someone is there can have various effects on our behavior, conformity involves a more focused reaction to their presence.
Computers and Social Facilitation
A recent field that makes use of social facilitation research is the study of the effects of performance on electronic devices like computers. Employers are interested in knowing what computer operators are doing. Yet it is still being determined whether electronically observing their work (when no one is around) has any impact.
Most of these studies didn’t learn from the conceptual mistakes and theoretical differences that had already been found. But there has been some exciting research. They still call it “social facilitation” in a casual way. For example, one study found a link between the outside of the social facilitation study and how people thought about electronic surveillance.
The problem with social facilitation research with people is that it relies too heavily on straightforward designs and few measurements. Knowing that people type less when others are present is insufficient. As an alternative, we must gauge what they are doing.
People have also claimed that social interaction is a component of all human behavior. This is even true when individuals act independently. Also, we must examine the full context because social facilitation raises complex issues.
Conclusion:
Social facilitation is the idea that people can sometimes do a task better when they are around others. Researchers have been studying this for more than a hundred years and found that it happens in some tasks and situations but not in others.
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References:
Strubble, 2005 The American Journal of Psychology (2005) 118 (2): 271–286.
Uziel, 2007 Individual differences in the social facilitation effect: A review and meta-analysis
Michaels et al., 1982 Social facilitation and inhibition in a natural setting
Najdowski,2010 Jurors and Social Loafing: Factors That Reduce That Reduce Participation During Jury Deliberations
Ingham, A. , Levinger, G., Graves, J., & Peckham, V. The Ringelmann effect: Studies of group size and group performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1974, 10, 371-384.Novelli, Drury,& Reicher,
Novelli, David, John Drury, and Steve Reicher. “Come together: Two studies concerning the impact of group relations on personal space.” British Journal of Social Psychology 49.2 (2010): 223-236.Harrigan, 2005
Remland, M.S., Jones, T.S. & Brinkman, H. Proxemic and haptic behavior in three European countries. J Nonverbal Behav 15, 215–232 (1991).
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