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social psychology
You perform better around others on simple tasks.
A 1965 study demonstrated that the mere presence of others increases the likelihood of your dominant response.
When a task is simple or well-practiced, an audience boosts your performance. When the task is complex or new, the same social pressure can cause you to falter. The effect depends entirely on your level of mastery.
You are not always better under pressure.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Social facilitation, Zajonc, 1965
- What the check found
- Zajonc's 1965 Science paper is correctly identified as the pivotal work formalizing the drive theory of social facilitation.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.