Page 80 - How to Shine on Stage

• factors of physical self-regulation
• factors of emotional self-regulation
• factors of mental self-regulation
In the context of physical regulation factors, we will examine the
regulation of the physiological excitement that occurs before walking on
stage. Emotional regulation will address the most common among the
musicians’ challenges, performance anxiety. Mental regulation will cen-
78 tre on attention, concentration, and mindfulness. All these factors relate
to an optimal performance state, which we will examine towards the end
of the chapter.

How to Shine on Stage The influence of the presence of others on one’s behaviour is a classic
2.2.1 Audience

topic in social psychology, which was most broadly researched in the ear-
ly 20th century (Dashiell, 1935). For over a century, many researchers
have devoted their efforts to studying how the presence of others influ-
ences individual performance (Triplett, 1898).
The presence of others arouses competition and social comparison,
evaluative judgements, friendly encouragement, distraction, a sense of
responsibility, and increased arousal (Geen, 1979; Latané et al., 1979, in
Butler & Baumeister, 1998). It is particularly the self-presentational mo-
tivation which encourages the performer to strive to make a favourable
impression on the people present at the performance (Baumeister, 1982).
The origins of research on social facilitation and inhibition date
back to the last years of the 19th century, when Triplett (1898) found
that the presence of others during one’s individual performance results
in better performance. However, if several individuals perform the same
activity as a group, the effect is reversed; individuals put less effort and
energy into the activity because they rely on others (Ringellman, 1913,
in Sanna, 1992). The mentioned experiments constitute the two funda-
mental social psychology studies on group performance. Early research
thus shows that the presence of others can either improve or worsen
performance. A more contemporary interest in social facilitation was
stimulated by Zajonc (1965) with his motivational theory of social fa-
cilitation. According to him, the presence of others, e.g. the audience
or fellow-performers, should arouse in a performer a generalized drive
that increases the occurrence of the dominant response. When domi-
nant responses are correct, as in simple or well-learned tasks, perfor-
mance in the presence of others will be further improved, as found in