Part of the Crowd

I agree with you, people in general tend to perform better or act differently in the prescence of crowds and large groups.

interesting topic! but I think social facilitation might not work for some of people and in certain situations. I have heard that when there are a lot of people surround a person who needs help, it is more likely that no one helps the person because they all think "someone is going to help that person. I don't need to help him/her". so I definitely think there are some negative effects of social facilitation. also, for me, I tend to perform things worse when people are around because I get nervous or distracted by others.

I completely agree with the concept of social facilitation as I have had plenty of experience with it in high school while playing competitive sports. When I was aware that certain people were watching me perform, I would usually get nervous and make simple mistakes because I was constantly thinking about them watching me. That is why I always found it best for that person to not tell me if they were going to attend my games until afterwards - that way I could focus completely on the game.

I agree with you that whenever people are being watched by others, they will do well or even better than usual on things that they are already good at doing. You also chose a great picture because I think social facilitation happens a lot on athletes. They tend to do better when people are watching and cheering for them.

Where did you get your information? Is there somewhere people can go for more information?

I find this topic to be very interesting. I read another blog post that discussed this in a different manner. However, both came down to the same fundamentals that being in the presence of others can increase a persons performance. I can see this in my life. When at a dance competition, I perform much better when I am being cheered on by a crowd.

I completely agree and have seen this in myself over the past few years. I am a non traditional student. I worked for 8 years in an office setting and got really tired of sitting by myself in front of a computer. Conversations with co workers were looked at as slacking off (and it often was) and being unproductive. I realized that when I was involved in group activities I was more motivated to do my work. This is one major reason why I am going back to school.

Another example. I am also a part time server, have been for years. A co worker and I would always share our side work, meaning we'd combine both of our lists and work together to get it done. We would then sit down and enjoy a meal together after work. It wasn't the idea of eating or socializing, but the fact that having a 'helper' to complete the routine and annoying tasks made it much less painful. Other servers noticed and I think it made them more annoyed with they were doing their work by themselves, because they saw us doing ours together.

I think this means we are social creatures by nature. :0

What an interesting topic. I know similar effect for this. When we watch soap opera, there is laughing sound as a background sound. It causes audiences laugh together. From my experience, I usually study in the library because I could get enthusiasm from other guys who study hard.

Well written blog. I definitely agree that when in the presence of others we become more aroused and therefore do whatever it is that we are doing in a better manner. Social facilitation is an interesting subject and I feel like people can apply to their daily life. Being surround by others gives us the pressure and motivation we need to perform at a higher level.

I also agree that people perform better when they are in a crowd. People usually get aroused and pumped when they get cheered by the crowd. I remember myself performing better in mile run when I was cheered by my friends than when I ran alone in the gym.

I definitely think that people perform better in a crowd because even if you think about practicing in a sport. You definitely work harder when the coach is around as opposed to when they are turned around not looking.

Interesting topic, based on what I've experienced in my own life I'd agree that doing anything while being in a group leads to better results. A great example of this is group fitness classes offered at many gyms around the country. By exercising with others, participants are motivated to try harder than they would normally. I'm not sure however if a group setting would increase the performance of a very mentally strong and motivated person.