Social Facilitation: The Effects of Audience\u27s Status on Performances of a Pursuit Rotor Task

In a study of social facilitation, 20 college students performed a pursuit rotor task in the presence of an audience of other students or faculty members. The results indicate that subjects performing in the presence of an audience of student peers displayed a significant enhancement in performance when compared to a baseline performance measurement. Subjects performing in the presence of an audience of faculty members displayed a nonsignificant decrement in performance when compared to baseline performance. The results suggest that the status of an audience affects individual performance