The effect of personality on social facilitation whilst performing a sports related task

The aim of the experiment was to investigate the effect of personality on social facilitation in a sporting context. After initial screening of 50 subjects by administration of the E.P.I., a group of 20 were selected for the experiment. Of these, 10 were designated as extraverts and 10 introverts. The task selected was a table tennis serve into a target area marked by grids. Subjects were required to perform the task both alone and in front of an audience. The results were analysed using a two-way ANOVA with one repeated measure. There were no significant main effects, but a highly significant interaction (F1.18 = 17.7, P< 0.001) between personality type and audience condition was revealed. This effect was due to the predicted pattern of extraverts performing better than the introverts in the presence of an audience and vice versa for the alone condition. It is concluded that the personality dimension of extraversion/introversion is a significant factor in social facilitation research.