Social influence of sport spectators [Sozialer Einfluss von Sportzuschauern]

Strauss, Bernd; Staufenbiel, Kathrin; van Meurs, Edda; MacMahon, Clare

Zusammenfassung

In this chapter, we focus on the question of how (sports-relevant) behavior and athletic performances are influenced by others, especially passive observers and active sports spectators. How does this presence of others impact performances and behaviors in motor tasks and in the context of sports? This chapter gives a short overview about social facilitation research in motor tasks. In sports, social influence has already been investigated extensively. A particular interest within social influence research is the home advantage in team sports. Research in this field is concerned with understanding whether the performance of the home team is better due to more of their fans being in the stadium.