Social facilitation: Zajonc’s model.

The idea

Zajonc’s model explains how the presence of others changes performance. It begins with the idea that an audience or co-actors raise arousal. Increased arousal strengthens the performer’s dominant response, meaning the action most likely to be produced in that situation. If the skill is well learned, the dominant response is usually correct, so performance improves; this is social facilitation. If the skill is still being learned, the dominant response is often incorrect, so performance worsens; this is social inhibition. The model therefore links arousal, task difficulty and stage of learning. For example, a confident rugby player may kick more accurately in front of a crowd, while a novice may miss under the same conditions. The model does not claim that an audience always helps or always harms; it predicts an effect that depends on whether the dominant response is correct.

What earns the marks

• The presence of others increases arousal in the performer.
• Heightened arousal strengthens the dominant response, the most likely response in that situation.
• If the dominant response is correct, typically for a well-learned or simple skill, performance improves and this is social facilitation.
• If the dominant response is incorrect, typically for a newly learned or complex skill, performance worsens and this is social inhibition.
• The model links arousal, stage of learning and task difficulty rather than predicting a single universal effect of an audience.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Misunderstanding: the model says an audience always improves performance.

  Put it right: It predicts improvement only when the dominant response is correct, so a novice may perform worse.

• Misunderstanding: arousal weakens the dominant response.

  Put it right: Arousal strengthens the dominant response, making the most likely action more probable.

• Misunderstanding: the model applies only to team games.

  Put it right: It applies to individual and team performances whenever others are present as an audience or co-actors.

• Misunderstanding: social facilitation and social inhibition are the same thing.

  Put it right: Social facilitation is improved performance and social inhibition is worsened performance, both explained by the same arousal mechanism.

Exam tips

• In a multiple-choice question, identify whether the scenario describes a well-learned or a newly learned skill before choosing between facilitation and inhibition.
• Check whether the option correctly states that arousal strengthens the dominant response, not that it creates a new response.
• Use the terms social facilitation and social inhibition precisely, matching each to improved or worsened performance.