Distraction as a source of drive in social facilitation research.

Distraction–conflict theory maintains that findings from social facilitation research result from the fact that the presence of others distracts Ss, thereby creating attentional conflict, which in turn produces drive effects. In support of this position, there already is a large amount of data indicating that presenting various forms of distraction during task settings produces drive effects. The present research demonstrated that in a close replication of a social facilitation study by N. B. Cottrell et al (1967), 64 undergraduates showed indications across several measures of being more distracted in audience conditions than when they were alone. Moreover, this effect occurred regardless of whether the audience facilitated (simple) performance of impaired (complex) performance. Results support distraction–conflict theory. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)