Moving in the presence of others: A systematic review and meta-analysis on social facilitation

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Abstract

The classic definition of social facilitation describes the “increase in response merely from the sight or sound of others making the same movement” (Allport, 1924, p. 262). Performance in cognitive or motor tasks was facilitated, inhibited or not affected, argued to be a function of task complexity (review by Zajonc, 1965). In his narrative review on motor tasks, Strauss (2002) found the presence of others to positively affect condition-based tasks (general drive hypothesis, Zajonc, 1965), and to negatively affect coordination-based tasks due to higher cognitive demands (overload hypothesis, Manstead & Semin, 1980). In a systematic review and meta-analysis, we tested this hypothesis including experimental research over 100 years. Through forward searches of Scopus, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Academic Search Premier, and backward searches of several reviews (Bond & Titus, 1983; Landers & McCullagh, 1976; Strauss, 2002; Oviatt & Iso-Ahola, 2008), we searched for studies that (a) compared a measure of motor performance in the presence of or coaction with others and alone, (b) were published in a scientific journal, (c) analyzed original empirical data, (d) investigated human subjects, and (e) provided sufficient information for effect sizes. Competition and archival studies were excluded. For the systematic review, we found N=72 (1924-2019) articles (5,419 participants). Condition-based tasks appear to be facilitated, while coordination/accuracy-based tasks performed under time- and precision-pressure show inconsistent results. The meta-analysis (N=28 effects) found a medium non-significant effect, g=0.24, 95% CI [-0.01; 0.50], p=.061 with high heterogeneity. The moderator analysis generally aligned with the systematic review: condition-based tasks are facilitated (g=0.68, SE=0.21), while the effect sizes for tasks with coordination-demands are smaller and show more variability. Finally, we support the drive- and overload hypothesis and draw conclusions for the state of the theory and experimental limitations specific to social-facilitation research on motor tasks.

Speakers from the University of Münster

Greve, Jona Anders	Professorship for Sport Psychology (Prof. Strauß)
Strauß, Bernd	Professorship for Sport Psychology (Prof. Strauß)
van Meurs, Edda	Professorship for Sport Psychology (Prof. Strauß)