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Social "facilitation" as challenge and threat.
J Blascovich1, W B Mendes, S B Hunter
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106-9660, USA. blascovi@psych.ucsb.edu
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|August 6, 1999
Summary
Social facilitation is explained by the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat. Performance on learned tasks with an audience shows a challenge response, while unlearned tasks show a threat response.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Health Psychology
Background:
- Social facilitation theory posits that the presence of others impacts performance.
- The biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat offers a framework for understanding physiological responses to social situations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat as an explanation for social facilitation.
- To investigate how task mastery and audience presence influence cardiovascular responses.
Main Methods:
- Participants learned one of two tasks.
- Cardiovascular responses were measured during the performance of learned or unlearned tasks, alone or with an audience.
Main Results:
- Performing a well-learned task with an audience elicited a "challenge" cardiovascular pattern (increased cardiac response, decreased vascular resistance).
- Performing an unlearned task with an audience elicited a "threat" cardiovascular pattern (increased cardiac response, increased vascular resistance).
Conclusions:
- The findings support the applicability of the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat to social facilitation.
- Task mastery is a key factor in determining the physiological response to social facilitation.