Social Pressure on Individual Performance Essay -- Sociology

Little of humans actions ar carried out in isolation and thus, individual performance molds on and is shaped by the fond context and, specifically, by activities performed by co-actors (Sebanz et al., 2003). As Albery et al. (2008) reas whizd, other battalion may affect our performance on particular tasks and hence, we may even change the way we behave in terms of increasing the effort exerted towards a task in order to be favorably evaluated by others. This essay seeks to discuss the effects that the immaculate heading of other people have on individual performance and it is structured as following. The paper begins by introducing the concept of social facilitation. It will then go on to discuss a rival of theories that may offer a global netherstanding of the implications of social presence on individual performance.The term social facilitation was first used by Floyd Allport in 1920s and it postulates that, in terms of performance, an improvement of easy tasks and an impairm ent of difficult tasks may occur in the mere presence of conspecifics (Hogg and Vaughan, 2008). In other words, individuals ar prone to perform better if they deal with a well-learned task than if they perform a rather unfamiliar or poorly learned assignment under certain circumstances and therefore, for the latter, the achievement deteriorates considerably. In essence, what social facilitation outlines is that, the individual performance can be affected by the presence of viewers. Corespondingly, according to Zajonc (1965), the main condition behind this is that the actual existence of an audience elevates drive levels. Although this may be true, the presence of others does not always deal people perform better (Baumeister and Bushman, 2011).Triplett (1898) h... ..., 129, 183-190Guerin, B. (1993). complaisant facilitation. Cambridge Cambridge University Press.Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy A theory relating self and affect. mental Review, 94, 319-340Hogg, M. A., & Va ughan, G. M. (2008). Social psychology 5th Ed. Harlow Pearson EducationSebanz, N., Knoblich, G., Prinz, W. (2003). Representing others actions just like ones own ?. Cognition, 88 (2003), B11-B21. max Plank Institute for Psychological ResearchThompson, R. (2002). Are two heads better than one ? The Psychologist, 15(12), 616-619Triplett, N. (1898). The dynamogenic factors in pacemaking and competition. American diary of Psychology, 9, 507-533.Weiss, R. F, & Miller, F. G. (1971). The drive theory of social facilitation. Psychological Review, 78, 44-57.Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, New Series, 149 (3681), 269-274 Social Pressure on Individual Performance Essay -- Sociology Little of humans actions are carried out in isolation and thus, individual performance molds on and is shaped by the social context and, specifically, by activities performed by co-actors (Sebanz et al., 2003). As Albery et al. (2008) reasoned, other people may affect our perfo rmance on particular tasks and hence, we may even change the way we behave in terms of increasing the effort exerted towards a task in order to be favorably evaluated by others. This essay seeks to discuss the effects that the mere presence of other people have on individual performance and it is structured as following. The paper begins by introducing the concept of social facilitation. It will then go on to discuss a couple of theories that may offer a global understanding of the implications of social presence on individual performance.The term social facilitation was first used by Floyd Allport in 1920s and it postulates that, in terms of performance, an improvement of easy tasks and an impairment of difficult tasks may occur in the mere presence of conspecifics (Hogg and Vaughan, 2008). In other words, individuals are prone to perform better if they deal with a well-learned task than if they perform a rather unfamiliar or poorly learned assignment under certain circumstances an d therefore, for the latter, the achievement deteriorates considerably. In essence, what social facilitation outlines is that, the individual performance can be affected by the presence of viewers. Corespondingly, according to Zajonc (1965), the main reason behind this is that the actual existence of an audience elevates drive levels. Although this may be true, the presence of others does not always make people perform better (Baumeister and Bushman, 2011).Triplett (1898) h... ..., 129, 183-190Guerin, B. (1993). Social facilitation. Cambridge Cambridge University Press.Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94, 319-340Hogg, M. A., & Vaughan, G. M. (2008). Social psychology 5th Ed. Harlow Pearson EducationSebanz, N., Knoblich, G., Prinz, W. (2003). Representing others actions just like ones own ?. Cognition, 88 (2003), B11-B21. Max Plank Institute for Psychological ResearchThompson, R. (2002). Are two heads better than one ? The Psychologist, 15(12), 616-619Triplett, N. (1898). The dynamogenic factors in pacemaking and competition. American Journal of Psychology, 9, 507-533.Weiss, R. F, & Miller, F. G. (1971). The drive theory of social facilitation. Psychological Review, 78, 44-57.Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, New Series, 149 (3681), 269-274