AUDIENCE AND CROWD EFFECTS IN SPORTS:Social Facilitation, Crowd Hostility

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Sport Psychology(psy407)

Lesson 35

AUDIENCE AND CROWD EFFECTS IN SPORTS

Audience participation is a powerful on athletic performance. Perhaps no social-psychological effect is more

important to athletic performance and outcome than the audience, or spectators, effect. While many

variables may help create the home court or home field advantage, none seem to be as important as the

presence of a supportive audience. Determining how and why an audience presence affects athletic

performance is the focus of this section. Topics to be discussed include:

Social facilitation

Effect of an interactive audience on performance

Audience characteristics(size, intimacy, density, and hostility)

Team quality

Players' perceptions.

Social Facilitation

Social facilitation research is based on the notion that the presence of an audience of one or more

spectators can facilitate performance. This is an appealing concept, since almost everyone has experienced

the desire to perform better when friends, family, or members of the opposite gender are watching.

Research in the area of social facilitation was significantly influenced by the work of Robert Zajonc

(pronounced "science"). Zajonc's classical paper on the topic remains the single most critical factor in the

development of social facilitation as a field of inquiry. (Zajonc, 1965). Zajonc proposed that the presence of

an audience has the effect of increasing (drive) in performing subjects. Since increased arousal facilitates the

elicitation of the dominant response, the presence of an audience will enhance the performance of a skilled

individual while causing a decrement in the performance of an unskilled individual. This concept is

illustrated below.

For highly skilled athletes:

performance facilitation

Crowd influence (increased Arousal)

leads to

For less skilled athletes:

leads to

performance decrement

Crowd influence (increased Arousal)

Effects Of An Interactive Audience On Performance

Perhaps the most interesting topic associated with the interactive audience is that of the home advantage.

The fact that the home advantage exists in such team sports as basketball, baseball, football, ice hockey, and

soccer is well documented (Bray, 1999). We will focus upon the most viable explanation for the home court

advantage: the presence of a supportive and interactive audience.

Why is there a Home Court Advantage?

The most plausible explanation for the home advantage in sport is the presence of a supportive and

interactive audience. The presence of a supportive and emotionally arousing crowd translates into a home

court advantage in many situations. Some researches suggest that the advantage favoring the home team is

due not to increased performance caused by a supportive audience, but to inferior performance on the part

of the visiting team--sort of an away court disadvantage.

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Sport Psychology(psy407)

When is the Home Court/Field a Disadvantage?

Is playing at home always an advantage, or can it sometimes be a disadvantage? For a number of reasons,

playing at home can be a home disadvantage. One reason might be that the fans expect you to win at

home; this can result in additional pressure to play well. A second reason might be that playing before a very

vocal and supportive audience can raise arousal to a level that results in a decrement of performance. The

presence of a supportive audience may have the effect of increasing the cost of not winning when you are

expected to. The athlete or the athletes begin to "press," which interferes with the execution of skillful play.

Audience Characteristics

Having determined that a home advantage usually exists in sport and that this advantage is related to the

presence of a supportive and interactive audience, we should now examine characteristics of the audience.

Crowd Size, Intimacy, and Density

There is evidence in professional baseball that crowd size makes a difference. Factors such as audience

density and audience intimacy may be more important than size for creating the home court advantage.

Crowd Hostility

It is generally understood that a supportive and friendly crowd will help the home team. What is the effect,

however, of a seemingly hostile crowd on player performance? Research by Greer (1983) demonstrated that

sustained hostile spectator protests have a clearly negative impact on the visiting team.

Home Court Advantage And Team Quality

From the previous discussions we understand that the home team usually enjoys a home court or field

advantage. Factors that contributed most to the home team advantage, after controlling for team quality,

were crowd density, rebounds, steals, and field goal shooting percentage. Winning at home occurs more

often for high-quality teams than for low-quality teams.

Players' Perceptions of Home Court Advantage

When asked about their perceptions of the home court advantage, athlete indicated that they believed there

was a home court advantage. They further indicated that they felt that home court familiarity and crowd

support were the primary factors determining the home court advantage. Finally, athletes believed that they

were more self-confidence when they played at home than when they played away.

References

Cox, H. Richard. (2002). Sport Psychology: Concepts and Applications. (Fifth Edition). New York:

McGraw-Hill Companies

Lavallec. D., Kremer, J., Moran, A., & Williams. M. (2004) Sports Psychology: Contemporary Themes. New

York: Palgrave Macmillan Publishers

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