Gender composition mediates social facilitation effect in co-action condition

Na Liu,Xuelian Lin,Ruifeng Yu,Lindong Yang

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-15437-y

Abstract

Working with co-actors is a common work-organization mode. Whether the presence of opposite-sex co-actors (OCs) can induce social facilitation effect and how an actor’s performance is influenced by the gender composition of co-actors remain unknown. The present study aims to examine the influence of the gender composition of co-actors on the intensity of the social facilitation effect. In Experiment 1, participants performed visual search tasks alone and in six co-action conditions with varying gender compositions. In Experiment 2, the participants performed modular arithmetic tasks in three conditions with electroencephalogram activity recorded and salivary cortisol measured: alone, with a same-sex co-actor (SC), and with an OC. Results indicated that the social facilitation effect was stronger in the presence of OCs than in the presence of only SCs. The intensities of social facilitation effect resulting from the varying gender composition of co-actors were obtained and compared. A participant’s power of alpha band was lower, whereas power of beta band and normalised cortisol level were higher in the presence of an OC than in the presence of an SC. These findings provide insights into the influencing mechanisms of gender composition on the intensity of the social facilitation effect in the co-action condition.

Highlights

Working with co-actors is a common work-organization mode
Social facilitation effect was observed in all five co-action groups (Fig. 1), but its intensity was contingent on the gender composition of the co-actors
The presence of sex co-actor (SC) can induce the social facilitation effect when actors perform visual search tasks and modular arithmetic tasks, which is similar to the findings of previous studies44,45

Summary

Introduction

Working with co-actors is a common work-organization mode. Co-actors refer to people who perform tasks independently but alongside each other. Arousal is a key concept in social facilitation theories Some studies described it from the physiological aspects and defined it as the intensity dimension of physiological alertness, readiness and responses. As an electrophysiological monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain, can EEG be used to measure arousal level and directly reflect the activated brain areas, and provide us an individual’s neural bases and brain functioning mechanisms in response to the social presence. No study has yet investigated the influences of gender composition on the intensity of the social facilitation effect in the co-action condition. Whether and how an actor’s behavioural performance will change with varying gender compositions of co-actors remain unclear To address these questions, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of the gender composition of co-actors on the behavioural performance of individuals and to reveal its influencing mechanisms

Methods

Results

Conclusion