Social Facilitation Gone Wrong
By: Jailene Ochoa
Contrary to Triplett’s study, a routine, well-learned task such as kicking a ball into a goal twelve yards away, became a humiliating failure in front of thousands of people. Instead of performing better due to social facilitation, John Terry from England’s Chelsea soccer team, slipped on an important penalty kick which ultimately cost his team the game to Manchester United in the Championship League final.
Under stress of being observed by so many people, John Terry slipped just before making contact with the ball, causing it to spin far from its intended goal. For Terry, the penalty was his chance to widen the score gap as Cristiano Ronaldo had just missed his penalty kick for Manchester United. However, due to Terry’s slip, Chelsea lost their opportunity and Manchester United did not miss another penalty.
Ultimately, Manchester United won the game 6-5 on penalties and won the Champions League.
Terry wrote a letter to his fans for the disappointing turn of events, expressing his sorrow for letting down all those that were spectating the game, writing “I am so sorry for missing the penalty and denying you the fans, my team-mates, family and friends the chance to become European champions.” A teammate of Terry wrote that they all had practiced penalties all of last week and that Terry was very confident. While one could expect him to do better at this relatively simple task due to social facilitation, Terry actually performed worse, or "choked". Unfortunately for fans of Chelsea, the reverse of Triplett’s study occurred in this situation.
By: Jailene Ochoa
Contrary to Triplett’s study, a routine, well-learned task such as kicking a ball into a goal twelve yards away, became a humiliating failure in front of thousands of people. Instead of performing better due to social facilitation, John Terry from England’s Chelsea soccer team, slipped on an important penalty kick which ultimately cost his team the game to Manchester United in the Championship League final.
Under stress of being observed by so many people, John Terry slipped just before making contact with the ball, causing it to spin far from its intended goal. For Terry, the penalty was his chance to widen the score gap as Cristiano Ronaldo had just missed his penalty kick for Manchester United. However, due to Terry’s slip, Chelsea lost their opportunity and Manchester United did not miss another penalty.
Ultimately, Manchester United won the game 6-5 on penalties and won the Champions League.
Terry wrote a letter to his fans for the disappointing turn of events, expressing his sorrow for letting down all those that were spectating the game, writing “I am so sorry for missing the penalty and denying you the fans, my team-mates, family and friends the chance to become European champions.” A teammate of Terry wrote that they all had practiced penalties all of last week and that Terry was very confident. While one could expect him to do better at this relatively simple task due to social facilitation, Terry actually performed worse, or "choked". Unfortunately for fans of Chelsea, the reverse of Triplett’s study occurred in this situation.
SIS experts discuss athletes 'choking' at major competitions (The One, 2012)
What happens to our brain activity when placed in high stress performance situations?