Page 83 - How to Shine on Stage

(1) In a difficult task requiring a high level of skill, performers were
less successful in the presence of a supportive audience than in the pres-
ence of a non-supportive audience. (2) When the benchmark for suc-
cess was low, the presence of a supportive audience had no effect. (3)
In cases of high criterion for success, the presence of a supportive audi-
ence aroused caution and defensive strategies, which resulted in poorer
performance: the performer slowed down the performance but with-
out a reduction in the number of mistakes. (4) Although the presence of
a supportive audience objectively caused less successful performances, 81
performers reported that such a presence helps their performance and
reduces their stress in comparison to the presence of a neutral or unsup-
portive, even hostile, audience. The results obtained alert us to an inter-
esting phenomenon, namely, that people are not aware of the negative
effects of a supportive audience and strive more for emotional comfort
than objective success.
Many theoretical explanations have been developed regarding the
effects of social facilitation (Geen, 1979, in Sanna, 1992). Although tra-
ditional social facilitation research focused on task difficulty as a key
moderating variable, some more recent studies report that task difficul- Direct Factors of Musical Performance Success
ty influences the performance through the performer’s expectations re-
garding their own efficacy. For example, Geen (1979) has documented
that performers who had previously received negative feedback were less
successful at performing in front of an audience than those who had pre-
viously received positive feedback. These findings align with Bandura’s
theory of self-efficacy (1989), which states that one’s motivation is deter-
mined by two sets of interrelated expectations: self-efficacy expectations,
which focus on one’s belief in their ability to accomplish something, and
outcome expectations, which focus on one’s belief that an activity will
yield the desired results. Bond (1982) added to these observations that
the performer of a simple activity expects a successful performance, and
that this performance is further motivated by the presence of an audi-
ence. Yet, the performer of a challenging activity will develop expecta-
tions of a poorer performance, which will be further weakened in the
presence of the audience. Even if a person is confident that they are able
to implement a required activity, this does not mean that it will yield the
expected results.
We have previously discussed how one’s own expectations affect
their performance. Now let’s examine how the expectations of others af-
fect performance. As stated in the preceding section, a supportive audi-
ence has significant expectations of its cherished performer. This often
creates pressure which adds to the performer’s existing burdens.