Effects of Social Facilitation on Perceived Workload, Subjective Stress, and Vigilance-Related Anxiety

Abstract

Vigilance, or sustained attention, refers to the capability of an individual to maintain attention to a stimulus over extended periods of time. Typically, vigilance tasks are associated with high levels of workload and stress, which manifests as less task engagement, and greater distress. Several factors have been shown to affect vigilance and its associated workload and stress (i.e. signal saliency, task difficulty, etc.). However, one factor that has been neglected in previous research on workload, stress, and anxiety is the presence of someone in a supervisory role during the task. Therefore, the purpose of the present investigation was to determine how the presence of a supervisory figure influenced perceived workload, stress, and anxiety that is associated with vigilance tasks. It was hypothesized that the presence of a supervisory figure would decrease workload and distress, and would increase the levels of anxiety, when compared to a non-supervisor.