The presence of others leads to arousal and can motivate individuals to enhance their performance if they are already good at solving something. This points to a phenomenon referred to as:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Social facilitation
Option (1) Social loafing — Incorrect. Social loafing is the reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task whose outputs are pooled, as in tug-of-war. It is the opposite effect: the group lowers effort instead of raising performance.
Option (2) Social facilitation — Correct. Social facilitation research suggests that the presence of others leads to arousal and can motivate individuals to enhance their performance if they are already good at the task. The question repeats this sentence.
Option (3) Social anxiety — Incorrect. Social anxiety disorder (social phobia) is intense and incapacitating fear and embarrassment when dealing with others. Such fear would lower performance in company, not raise it.
Option (4) Social norms — Incorrect. Norms tell us how we ought to behave in a group and specify the behaviour expected from its members. They are rules of conduct, not an effect of others’ presence on performance.
NCERT (2025-26): “Social Loafing … Social facilitation research suggests that presence of others leads to arousal and can motivate individuals to enhance their performance if they are already good at solving something.…” “…Social loafing is a reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task, i.e. one in which outputs are pooled with those of other group members. An example of such a task is the game of tug-of-war. It is not possible for you to identify how much force each member of the team has been exerting. Such situations give opportunities to group members to relax and become a free rider.…” |