• 'Social facilitation' is a form of group influence.

• 'Social facilitation' refers to a concept that performance on specific task is influenced by the mere presence of others.

• Norman Triplett observed that individuals show better performance in presence of others, than when they are performing the same task alone.

Better performance in presence of others is because the person experiences arousal, which makes the person react in a more intense manner.

The arousal is because the person feels he or she is being evaluated. Cottrell called this idea evaluation apprehension. The person will be praised if performance is good (reward), he/she will be criticised if it is bad (punishment). We wish to get praise and avoid criticism, therefore we try to perform well and avoid criticism. As in case of complex task, the person may be afraid of making mistakes. And the fear of criticism or punishment is stronger.

If the others present are also performing same task, this is called a situation of co-action. When task is simple or a familiar one, performance is better under co-action than when the person is alone.

Task performing can be facilitated and improved or inhibited and worsened by the presence of others. If we are working together in a larger group, the less effort each member puts in. This phenomena is called social loafing, based on diffusion of responsibility.

Diffusion of responsibility can also be frequently seen in situations where people are expected to help.

• 'Social loafing' refers to reduction in motivation when people are functioning collectively.

• It is a form of group influence.

(i) Group members feel less responsible for the overall tasks being performed and therefore exert less effort.

(ii) Motivation of members may decrease because they realize that their contributions cannot be evaluated on the individual basis, so to why to work hard.

(iii) The performance of the group is not to be compared with that of the other groups.

(iv) There is improper co-ordination (or no co-ordination) among members. Group polarization is a group influence which refers to the tendency.

The tendency of group-members, as a result of group discussion to shift towards more extreme positions than those which they initially held.

In group polarization, it has been found that groups are more likely to take extreme decisions than individuals alone, e.g., a decision is to be taken whether a school has to be established in a village or not. Group polarization occurs due to the following:

(i) In the company of like-minded people, people are likely to hear newer arguments favouring their view-points.

(ii) When people find others also favouring their view-point, they feel that their view is validated by the public. This is a sort of bandwagon effect.

(iii) When people find others having similar views, they are likely to perceive them as in-group.