Synopses & Reviews
The presence of one person affects the behavior of another: this is known as social facilitation. It is one of the oldest topics in social psychology, first studied in 1898, yet Bernard Guerin's is the first book-length study of the phenomenon. Dr. Guerin reviews all work in the area from 1898 onward, looking at both human and animal research, and develops his own theory, based on modern theory analysis. Through his study of social facilitation, he also reviews the state of social psychology today: its strengths, its weaknesses, and its future.
Review
"...contains a lot of useful history and summarized information about effects of social facilitation, including reviews of the major theories of social facilitation (drive, social conformity, cognitive process) and a bibliography of over 700 references spanning work since 1898....of interest to social, cognitive, and clinical psychologists." Psychological Report
Review
"...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
Synopsis
A review of how the presence of one person affects the behaviour of another, using both human and animal research.
Table of Contents
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.