Mere Presence and Conformity Effects in Social Facilitation
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MERE PRESENCE AND CONFORMITY EFFECTS IN SOCIAL FACILITATION Bernard Guerfn B.A. (Hons) (Adelalde) Thesls submlÈÈed 1n fulfflmenÈ of Èhe requlrements for the Degree of DocÈor of Phllosophy ûlr/ûazQ / 7- ,1 ¿i/¡- Department of Psychology The Unlverslty of Adelalde August I 984 (1) TABLE OF EONTENTS PAGE SI¡MMARY (x) STATEMENT (xrf) NOTE (xitf) ACKNOTLEDGEMENTS (x1v ) CHAPTER I. OVERVIEW I CHAPTER II. THE HISTOR OF SOCIAL FACILITATION RESEARCTI 5 II. l. THE EARLY hIORK OF TRIPLETT 5 II. 2. THE EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF THE 192OIS ll II. 3. CONCEPTUAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ADVANCES uP TO 1964 2T T.T. 4. CONCLUSION 29 rr. 5. THE DRrVE MODEL OF ZAJONC (1965) 30 II. 5.1. An outllne of ZaJonc (1965) 30 II. 5.2. Crltical dlecussÍon of ZaJonc ( 1e65) 34 II. 5.2.1. The drlve construct and the domlnance hferachy of reaponse9 34 II. 5.2.2. The aroueal construct 37 II. 5.2.3. The conatruct of mere pre6ence 42 II. 5.3. Conclusfon 44 CHAPTER III. THEORIES OF SOCIAL FACILITATION 4t III. 1. INTRODUCTION 45 III. 2. DRIVE AND AROUSAL THEORIES 47 III. 2.1. Evaluatlon apprehenefon 47 III. 2.2. lúere presence effecte, fear and alertnese 49 (ff) Ghapter III (conttnued) PAGE III. 2.2.1. Alertneea to eocfal and non-soclal stimull 49 III. 2.2.2. Monit,orabfllÈy and alertneee 32 III. 2.2.3. Predlctlons of mere presence effecte 54 III. 3. SOCTAL CONFORMITY THEORIES 56 III. 3.1. Evaluatlon apprehenefon 57 IfI. 3.2. ObJecÈ1ve Self-Awarenege 58 III. 3.3. Control Syetems Model 59 III. 3.3.1. The model of Carver & Schefer ( 1978) 59 III. 3.3.2. Crltlcal dlecuesfon 61 III. 3.4. Self-Presentatfon and other functlonal models of soclal facf11Èatlon 63 rrr.3.5. Social conformlty and evaluatfon 66 III. 4. ATTENTTON PROCESSES 68 rrr. 4. I . Physical dlstractlon 68 rrt.4.2. Cognitlve dfstraction 69 rrr.4.3. Diatract fon-Conf llct 69 frr.4.4. Attentfonal proceee model 7l rrr.4.5. Arouaal effects uPon attentÍon 72 rrr.4.6. Manetead & Semln (198O) 73 III. 4.7. An lnformatlon proceaelng vlew 73 rrr. 5. DRTVE, SOCTAL CONFORI{rTY AND ATTENTTONAL EFFECTS 75 III. 6. CONCLUSIONS 77 CHAPTER IV. REVIEI.J OF EXPERIMENTAL STUDTES 78 IV. I. INT-N.ODUCTION 78 (f11) Chapter IV (contlnued) PAGE IV. 2. INITIAL REVIEI., OF STUDIES 79 IV. 3. MERE PRESENCE STUDIES 86 IV. 4. THE EFFECTS OF THE PRESENCE OF THE EXPERIMENTER 92 IV. 5. THE EFFECT OF AN OBSERVER 99 IV. 5.1. The SÈudies 99 IV. 5.2. The Theorfes l05 rv. 6. coNcl.usroNs LO7 CHAPTER V. THE EFFECT OF MERE PRESENCE ON MOTOR PERFORMANCE. AND WORD ASSOCIATTONS l09 V. I. INTRODUCTION l09 v.2 EXPERIMENT l: SOCIAL FACTLITATION OF A MOTOR RESPONSE ttl V. 2.1. Method tlr V. 2.1.1. SubJects ltt V. 2.L.2. Apparatus lll V. 2.1.3. Procedure Lt2 V. 2.2. Results 113 V. 2.2.1. Experlmenter Effects 113 V. 2.2.2. Taak Perforrnance 114 V. 2.2.3. Self-Report Measurea tl4 V.2.3. Dfecuaslon r15 V. 3. EXPERIMENT 2¡ WORD ASSOCIATION TEST 117 V. 3.1. Method L22 V.3.1.1. SubJecta r22 V. 3.1.2. Apparatua t22 V. 3.1.3. Procedure 123 V.3.2. Reeulte 124 ( rv) Chapter IV (Contlnued) PAGE v 3.2.1. Commonnese Scores L25 v 3.2.2. Latency Scores L27 v 3.2.3. Self-Report Measuree t29 V.3.3. DÍscueglon 130 V. 4. GENERAL DISCUSSTON 133 CHAPTER VI. MONITORABILITY AND F ARITY AS MEDIATORS OF MERE PRES ENCE EFFECTS 135 VI. 1. INTRODUCTION 135 vr. 2. EXPERIMENT 3: TTTE ROLE OF MONITORABILITY rN AN AUDIENCE SETTING 136 VI. 2.1. Introductfon 136 VI.2.2. Method 137 VI. 2.2.1. SubJects L37 VI. 2.2.2. Apparatus L37 VI. 2.2.3. Procedure 140 VI. 2.3. Results 143 VI. 2.3.1. Practlce Measures L43 VI. 2.3.2. Task Performance Meaeures 143 VI. 2.3.3. Self-Report Meaaures r46 VI. 2.3.4. Vldeo Measures L49 VI.2.4. Dfecusslon 155 VI. 3. EXPERIMEMT 4: THE ROLE oF FAI'IILIARITY IN COACTION AND AUDIENCE SETTINGS 158 VI. 3.1. Introductlon r58 vI. 3.2. Method r59 VI. 3.2.L. SubJecte 159 VI . 3.2.2. Apparatus 159 vI. 3.2.3. Procedure 160 (v) Chapter VI (Continued) PAGE VI. 3.3. Results and Diecusalon 163 VI. 3.3.1. Prellmfnary CornmenÈs 163 VI. 3.3.2. Task Perfornance r65 VI. 3.3.3. Self-Report Measures r69 VI. 4. GENERAL DISCUSSION t72 VI. 4.I Mere Preeence Effects L72 VT. 4.2. Self-Report Meaeures 174 VI. 4.3. Behavlour Inhlbftfon 174 CHAPTER VIT. BEHAVIOUR INHIBITION IN THE PRESENCE OF ANOTHER PERSOI¡ t76 VII. 1. INTRODUCTION 176 VII. 2. EXPERIMENT 5: TIIE EFFECT OF EVALUATION AND MERE PRESENCE ON TASK PERFORMANCE AND BEHAVIOUR INHIBITION t78 VfI.2.l. Introductfon 178 VII. 2.2. MeÈhod 179 VII.2.2.L. SubJects 179 VII. 2.2.2. Apparatus L79 VII. 2.2.3. Procedure 180 vII . 2.3. Reeult,e ra2 VII. 2.3.1. Task Performance Meaguree 182 VII. 2.3.2. Vldeo Measures 182 VII. 2.3.3. Self-Report Measuree 186 VfI. 2.4. Dlecussfon L87 VII.3 EXPERIMENT 6: A FIETD TEST OF BEHAVIOUR INHIBITION 189 vII. 3.1. IntroductLon 189 VII. 3.2. Method 190 (vi ) Chapter VII (Contlnued) PAGE VfI. 3 .2.1. SubJecta 190 VII. 3.2.2. Procedure 190 VII.3.3. Results 191 VTI. 4. GENERAL DISCUSSION OF BEHAVIOUR INHIBITION I92 CHAPTER VIII. lHE MEDIATION OF MERE PRESENCE EFF'ECTS BY MONTTORABILITY t97 VIII. l. EXPERIMENT 7: INTRODUCTION t97 VIII. 2. METHOD 199 VIII. 2.1. Subjects 199 VIII. 2.2. Procedure 199 VIII. 3. RESULTS 202 VIII. 3.I. Taek Performance Reeults 202 VIII. 3.2. Self-Report Measuree 202 VIII. 4. DISCUSSION 207 CHAPTER IX. SI.JMMARY AND CONCLUSTONS 209 IX. I. THE THEORIES 209 rx. 2 THE EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE 2t3 IX. 2.1 Mere Preeence effecte 2L3 IX. 2.2 Self-reporÈ mea€urea 2L7 IX. 2.3 Behavlour Inhlbltfon 2t9 rx. 3 CONCLUSIONS 220 APPENDICES 223 REFERENCES 235 (vf1) LISÎ OF TABLES PAGE Table I SEudfes rejecÈed from revfew. 82 Table 2 StudÍes lncluded 1n revlew. 88 Table 3. Mere presence sEudfes. 90 Table 4 Effects of the presence of the experlmenter. 93 Table 5 Effects of the presence of observers. too Table 6 Means and standard devlatlons of all measures across soclal conditions for Experiment 2. r26 Table 7 Means and sEandard devÍatfons of errors fn pracÈice trials of Experiment 3. r44 Tab1e I Means and st,andard devfaElons of errors per word paír 1n test trlal of Experiment 3. t44 Table 9 Means for body movemenEs, smalI movemenEs and vocallzatlons, for practice trials combinlng slmple and complex tasks 1n Experiment 3. r52 Table lO. Means for body movements, small movemenÈ,s and vocallzatlons, for the test trlals fn ExperlmenÈ 3. 152 Table 11. Means, standard deviatlons and sample sizes of the number of letEers copied 1n Experiment 4. t64 Table 12. Means (logs) and sample sfzes of t.he number of letters copied fn Experiment 4. 166 Table 13. Means of self-reporÈed arousal and dlsÈractlon 1n Experiment 4. r66 Table t4. Means and standard devfations of the number of correctly recalled dlgits 1n Experlment 5. t84 Table 15. Means for body movemenEs, small movementa and vocallzatlons Ín Experiment 5. 184 Table 16. Mean number of body movements and small movements 1n Experiment 6. 193 Table 17. Means and standard devfat,iona of Ehe number of lett.ers copied ln ExperÍment 7. 203 Table 18. Means of self-reporÈed disturbance, threat and evaluation 1n Experfment 7 203 ( v11f ) LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure I Tfme in seconds per trfal for turnfng reels alone (A) or 1n competitLon (C) for groups A and B (daÈa from Trlplet,t, 1898' p.521). I Flgure 2 Average number of assocfaÈlons worklng alone or t,ogether for each of 3 mlnuÈes (data from Allport, l920r p.165). t2 Ffgure 3. Cumulatlve graph of the number of social facllitation experimental studles from 1898 Èo 1983. Astertsks mark the lnfluentlal papers of Allport (1920) and ZaJonc ( 1965). l8 Figure 4. Graph of the number of dtglts recalled after 2 mfnuÈes or 45 minut,es uslng data from three studfes whfch used Èhe Bame procedure ( l- Deffenbacher et al., L974i 2-Geenr 1973¡ l- Geen, L974. Dat,a used by permlsslon of authors). 97 Flgure 5 Plan of experimenEal and recordfng rooms for Experfment 3. 139 Figure 6 Mean errors per word pair across socfal condftlon for the simple and complex tasks for ExperlmenÈ 3. t45 Flgure 7. Means for body movements across socfal condition wlth slmple or complex task for ExperÍment 3. r45 ( Íx) LIST OF FIGURES (conÈlnued) PAGE FÍgure I Means for emall movements across socfal conditlons with slmple or complex tasks for Experfment, 3. 153 Flgure 9 Mean vocallzatfons across social condltÍons wÍth slrnple or complex tasks for ExperfmenÈ 3 ts3 Figure lO. Mean number of letters copled (logs) by type of presence and famllfarlty for Experfment 4 168 Figure I 1. Mean self-report of arousal by taek complexfEy and famlllarlty for ExperfmenE 4 168 Figure 12. Means for body movements, small movements and vocalfzations across eocial condltfons for ExperÍment 5. 185 Flgure 13. Mean body movement,s slone and with presence for the FronE and Behind condltlons for Experiment 6. L94 Figure 14. Mean smalÌ movements alone and wfth presence for the FronE and Behl-nd conditions for Experfment 6 L94 Ffgure t5.