Moving in the presence of others – a systematic review and meta-analysis on social facilitation

Abstract

Social facilitation is an old research topic in psychology with diverse results: Performance in cognitive or motor tasks is either facilitated, inhibited or not affected, argued to be a function of task complexity. In his narrative review, Strauss, B. (2002. Social facilitation in motor tasks: A review of research and theory. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 3(3), 237–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1469-0292(01)00019-X) found the presence of others to positively affect condition-based tasks (general drive hypothesis, Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, 149(3681), 142–146. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.149.3681.269), and to negatively affect coordination-based tasks (capacity hypothesis, Manstead, A. S. R., & Semin, G. R. (1980). Social facilitation effects: Mere enhancement of dominant responses? British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19(2), 119–135. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8260.1980.tb00937.x). This systematic review and meta-analysis focused exclusively on movement-based tasks, identifies the prevalence and magnitude of social facilitation, moderated by condition- and coordination-demands. Through forward searches (Scopus, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Academic Search Premier, ProQuest Dissertations, OvidSP) and backward searches, we identified N = 82 human studies (7008 participants) over 100 years. In the systematic review, condition-based tasks are generally facilitated, while results of coordination-based tasks performed under time and precision pressure differed (cf. Bond, C. F., & Titus, L. J. (1983). Social facilitation: A meta-analysis of 241 studies. Psychological Bulletin, 94(2), 265–292. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.94.2.265). The meta-analytic moderator analysis of coordination- and condition-based tasks aligned with the systematic review. The experimenter’s influential presence was emphasized. We support the capacity hypothesis and draw conclusions for the state of the theory and experimental limitations specific to social facilitation research.

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