Social Facilitation

A 1993 review of how the presence of one person affects the behaviour of another, using human and animal research.

Bernard Guerin (Author)

9780521333580, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 March 1993

254 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.54 kg

"...this second edition offers a wealth of fresh research and new case examples as well as seven completely new chapters..." Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society

Humans may run faster, read less or type more quickly, simply because someone else is present. The presence of one person affects the behaviour of another: this is known as social facilitation and is one of the oldest topics in social psychology. Despite its importance this was the first book-length study of the phenomenon when it was published in 1993. Dr Guerin reviewed all work in the area from 1898 onwards, looking at both animal and human research, and developed his own theory, based on modern behaviour analysis. The book will be appreciated for its wide-ranging and balanced review of previous work on social facilitation and for the general review of the state of social psychology during the 1990s that Dr Guerin's work on the phenomenon includes. The author's theoretical stance is innovative and important, and will make the work required reading.

Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
Part I. The History and Development of Social Facilitation Research: 2. The early history of social facilitation
3. The drive model of Zajonc (1965)
Part II. Theories of Social Facilitation: 4. Drive theories of social facilitation
5. Social conformity theories
6. Cognitive process theories
Part III. Experimental Studies of Social Facilitation: 7. Social facilitation effects in animals
8. Social facilitation effects in humans
Part IV. The Place of Social Facilitation in Social Psychology: 9. Integrating the theories of social facilitation
10. Related areas of psychology
11. Conclusions and future social facilitation research
References
Indexes.

Subject Areas: Social, group or collective psychology [JMH]