Social facilitation theory examines the influences of other people on the increases or decreases of an individual’s performance level (Zajonc, 1965, 1968). For example, when other people are around and the task is easy, then performance is better than when the individual is performing the task alone; if the task is hard, then the person’s performance is worse than when he or she is performing the task alone (for example, Feinberg & Aiello, 2006; Geen, 1989).

The history of social facilitation research began with the work of Triplett (1898), who noticed differences in cyclists’ performance times based on the presence or absence of other riders. Triplett reported that the fastest riding times always occurred during simultaneous competition. The next-fastest times occurred during paced races, and the slowest times occurred when riders performed alone. Triplett explained this result as a “theory of dynamogenesis” in which “the bodily presence of another rider is a stimulus to the racer in arousing the competitive instinct” (p. 516), and asserted that another rider can help the performer release nervous energy that could not otherwise be released.