Cottrell proposed that the cyclist may perform better when they are r…

The correct answer is Option (2) → Evaluation apprehension

As early as 1897, Norman Triplett observed that cyclists racing with each other perform better than when they cycle alone. Better performance in the presence of others is called social facilitation. Zajonc explained it by arousal, which makes the person react in a more intense manner, and Cottrell explained where this arousal comes from.

Option (1) Social loafing — Incorrect. Social loafing is a reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task, one in which the outputs are pooled with those of other group members, as in the game of tug-of-war: individuals work less hard in such a group than when they perform alone. The cyclists do the opposite: they perform better, and each one’s performance is seen and judged on its own.

Option (2) Evaluation apprehension — Correct. Cottrell held that the arousal comes because the person feels she or he is being evaluated, and he called this idea evaluation apprehension. The person will be praised if the performance is good and criticised if it is bad; we wish to get praise and avoid criticism, so we try to perform well and avoid mistakes. A cyclist racing against others knows that her or his performance is being compared and judged.

Option (3) Impression formation — Incorrect. Impression formation is the process in which a perceiver gathers information about a target person, organises it and draws inferences about her/him. It is about forming a view of someone, not about how well one performs a task.

Option (4) Actor-observer effect — Incorrect. The actor-observer effect is the difference between the attribution a person makes for her/his own positive and negative experiences (actor-role) and the attribution made for another person’s experiences (observer-role). For example, you put your own good marks down to hard work, but a classmate’s good marks to luck. It is about explaining the causes of behaviour, not about performing better in front of others.

Tip for students: Learn the names in pairs: Triplett – the cyclists, Zajonc – arousal, Cottrell – evaluation apprehension, and co-action – others doing the same task. Then read whether a question asks for the name of the situation (co-action) or for the reason someone gave for the better performance (evaluation apprehension).

Note 1: The original NTA paper printed Option (1) as ‘Co-action’. The official NTA Answer Key accepted both Option (1) and Option (2) as correct. Option (1) can also be defended: when the others present are also performing the same task, it is called a situation of co-action, in which there is social comparison and competition, and with a simple or familiar task performance is better under co-action than when the person is alone. Cyclists racing against each other are in this situation. The question, however, asks for the reason that Cottrell proposed for the better performance, and that reason is evaluation apprehension. Therefore, to leave a single correct answer, Option (1) has been changed to ‘Social loafing’, for the benefit of students.

Note 2: Cottrell’s idea of evaluation apprehension, with Triplett’s observation of cyclists racing with each other, was there in the chapter ‘Attitude and Social Cognition’ of the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023, and is not there in the NCERT book (2025-26). Hence this question has been picked from the pre-rationalised NCERT.