TOPFOTO
The influence of the presence of others on performance can help (facilitate) or hinder (inhibit). In many sports settings an audience or crowd is watching the performers. The effect of this audience and the presence of other performers forms the basis of social facilitation and inhibition.
The earliest study in this area was made by Triplett in one of the first pieces of sports psychology research in 1897. Triplett investigated official bicycle race records under three different conditions:
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