Meta-Analysis of Social Presence Effects on Stroop Task Performance

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Social facilitation theory posits that the presence of others affects performance.
• The Stroop task measures cognitive control and interference.

Purpose of the Study:

• To meta-analytically review the impact of social presence on Stroop task performance.
• To investigate cognitive processes underlying social facilitation.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a multivariate random-effects meta-analysis of 33 studies following PRISMA guidelines.
• Examined moderating factors including type of social presence and Stroop task features.

Main Results:

• Social presence significantly reduces Stroop interference, indicating enhanced cognitive control.
• The effect is stronger with attentive audiences and classic Stroop tasks.
• No effect was found with evaluative audiences; effect size decreased with more trials.

Conclusions:

• Social presence modulates cognitive control on the Stroop task, supporting social facilitation theories.
• The nature of the audience and task design critically influence this social effect.