Question

The magician performed her simple tricks even better in front of the audience than in practice. But her big finale fell flat. What best explains this?1. evaluation apprehension hypothesis2. mere presence hypothesis3. optimal distinctiveness4. comparative social psychology

Answer 1

Answer:

What best explains this is:

2. mere presence hypothesis.

Explanation:

The mere presence hypothesis serves to explain social facilitation. According to it, some people tend to be more aware of evaluation when in the mere presence of others. For that reason, they tend to perform better on tasks that are simple or well-rehearsed. For instance, an athlete such as a weightlifter may lift heavier weights in the presence of others than if he were by himself. On the other hand, those same people tend to perform worse in the presence of others when the task is complex or new.

Notice that this seems to be the case with the magician we are analyzing. She performed better in the presence of an audience, but only when it came to the simpler tricks. When it came to her grand finale, she failed. Her big finale certainly had more complexity than the other tricks. Her performance is, therefore, explained by the mere presence hypothesis.