An example of social facilitation is a skilled basketball player making more free throws when shooting in front of a cheering crowd than when practicing alone, because the audience’s presence increases arousal and enhances a well-learned skill.

What social facilitation means

Social facilitation is when the presence of other people (as observers or co- actors) changes how well someone performs a task.

Typically, performance on simple or well-practiced tasks improves, while performance on new or complex tasks can actually get worse under observation.

Classic everyday examples

  • A musician playing a familiar piece more accurately and energetically during a live concert than during a solo rehearsal.
  • Students who focus better and solve routine homework problems more efficiently when studying in a library with others around, compared with studying alone at home.
  • Cyclists or runners achieving faster times when racing alongside others than when training alone, due to co-action and audience effects.

Non-examples often confused with it

  • A person doing less work in a group project because they feel less individually accountable is showing social loafing, not social facilitation.
  • People behaving more extremely in a crowd (for example at a political rally) reflects processes like deindividuation or group polarization, not social facilitation.

How to spot the correct answer on a test

When you see a question like “which of the following is an example of social facilitation?”, look for:

  • A person being observed or working alongside others
  • A well-learned or simple task getting better , or a complex/new task getting worse because others are present

So, among typical choices, the best example is something like: “A practiced pianist plays a piece more flawlessly in front of an audience than when alone,” which fits the definition of social facilitation.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.