Hello! The effect of presence in psychology is a phenomenon in which a person begins to work better if someone is next to him. But it doesn’t always work exactly the way you want. And today we will consider under what conditions a negative, opposite result appears.
History of occurrence
It was discovered by Norman Triplett back in 1898. He was a psychologist who was fond of cycling. Once Norman noticed that athletes show better results when they have an opponent. That is, the efficiency is much lower if they pedal for a while. He decided to conduct an experiment, which as a result confirmed his observations.
A little later, Floyd Allport called this phenomenon the effect of social facilitation, which is manifested even in animals. For example, chickens peck at grain more measuredly when alone. But just remember what begins if you throw a bunch of some cereal on the ground, how quickly they swoop in and eat it up in an instant. If you have pets at home, then you could not help but notice how they speed up the chewing process if someone approaches them or just eats nearby. Even ants begin to dig their own trenches more actively if relatives work next to them.
An interesting nuance, it turned out that the simpler the duties, the brighter this effect manifests itself. But it is worth giving hard, for example, mental work, as all the positive consequences of competition disappear. This is how the opposite phenomenon was discovered — social inhibition. Robert Zajonc was the first to notice this in 1965.
The subjects worked more actively if they were given the task of winding a fishing line on a reel, cutting out some shape from paper, or summing up two-digit numbers. But as soon as you were present at the process of solving a complex mathematical problem or watching the passage of a maze, labor efficiency plummeted.
Causes
David Myers decided to classify the reasons that affect our activity if someone is nearby.
Fear of evaluation
In addition to fear, shame also makes itself felt. After all, you must admit that the opinion of other people about the quality of our work, abilities and aspirations is quite important. Sometimes the desire to get recognition is the main motivating factor to act.
When a person is in solitude, he can afford to relax, cheat. Maybe even pick your nose. But as soon as someone enters his office or the room where he works, a miracle happens. He starts to work faster. Sometimes you can even notice how your posture changes.
Collaboration is stimulating. Few people may want to seem like a weak link compared to the rest. Individuals with an “excellent student complex” give their best, they are ready to sacrifice their time and health for a good grade and recognition.
If a stranger is an observer, the fear of evaluation can be transformed into almost horror. Especially if there is no way to watch him back. That is, for example, when the inspector stands behind his back and consider him in order to reduce the level of anxiety, it does not work.
Excitation and motivation to give all the best will decrease if there are no authority figures in the group. There is no one to look up to, no one to compete with, which is why it makes no sense to waste energy trying to finish faster and do something with quality.
Attention
Our attention wanders when we think about how we look in the eyes of others, how exactly colleagues work, who looks at us and who does not, and so on. Such reflections plunge into a state where inner experiences become so important that the outside world may not notice. And although it does not last long, it affects the efficiency of labor. Due to the fact that you have to do the work as «on the machine», the excitement begins to grow, compensating for the lack of attentiveness. As if control is released and the person manages to do more.
Gender
It may be hard to believe, but the occurrence of inhibition or facilitation can provoke a group to be either male or female. For example, men, due to the competitive spirit, perceive other members of the stronger sex as competitors. Accordingly, in their presence they show themselves at 100 percent. But the beautiful half of humanity negatively affects their ability to work. The fact is that many errors appear, even if they faced a simple task.
Recommendations
If you need to increase the effect of the facilitation effect, do not set too tight control of workers. So you will only interfere with them. Remember how in childhood a parent stood behind you and watched how you solve examples or write a dictation. Horror covered so much that even simple tasks seemed unsolvable. The meaning of the sentence read, the text was not realized at all. I only wanted one thing — that this torture would end as soon as possible.
For those who have had no such learning experience, watch your children, if any. As soon as you try to control them, your quick-witted baby will begin to think, worry, doubt for a long time.
But it’s also not worth letting it take its course, otherwise the phenomenon of inhibition will make itself felt. In general, as with everything else in life, you need to keep a balance.
By the way, never take your bad mood out on those from whom you expect good performance. Mood actually plays a significant role in the effectiveness of our work. And if the well-being of your employees is generally good, then the company will develop.
Completion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! If you have problems with productivity, you can read this article. In it you will find the most effective methods of increasing motivation. And also do not forget that knowledge is power, and with the help of the articles listed on the blog, you will develop it. Accordingly, you can use the information to your advantage, adding quality to your life.
Also, we recommend reading an article about a very interesting effect of the “Hundredth Monkey”.
Take care of yourself and loved ones!
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina