Imagine this: You’re lying on a weight bench, arms sore and back feeling a bit tight. You glance over at the wall clock. You’ve been at the gym for twelve minutes. You glance at your wristwatch. Yep. Just. Twelve. Minutes.
Now picture the above scene in two ways: one where you’re alone, and the other where your friend is spotting you. Maybe they’re a bit stronger than you are. Maybe you’re competing to see who loses the first two pounds. In which scenario would you push yourself a little harder and a little longer?
What are you trying to improve in your own life? Are you trying to quit smoking? Is a plant-based lifestyle something you’ve been considering? Are you struggling to make positive changes in your life?
18-year old Caide Prewitt does it all: tennis, running, Bikram yoga, P90X, weight training, dog-walking…she’s even headed off to college this summer on a full volleyball scholarship. When it comes to food, she tries her best to find balanced nutrition in plant-based ingredients. When asked about the influence of friends and family on exercise and diet, she agrees that there is a clear relationship between the two.
“When I’m alone, it’s hard to keep motivating myself on what I need to be doing. But if I have other people with me like my [volleyball] coaches and teammates, they can motivate me to do so much more. Food-wise, my mom helped me realize that what you consume is what you put out…because your internal body is so important on the energy you give and how strong you can be.”
Caide isn’t the only one who notices the relationship between health and social structure. The presence of others having a distinct influence on behavior has been studied extensively and termed “social facilitation.” It suggests the mere (or imagined) presence of people in social situations creates an atmosphere of evaluation and increased or decreased performance, depending on the confidence you have in your abilities.
Psychologist Norman Triplett pioneered research on social facilitation in 1898 when he found that cyclists had faster race times when in the presence of other cyclists as opposed to when riding alone. He demonstrated this effect in a controlled laboratory experiment where he found that children performed a simple task faster in pairs than when performing tasks by themselves.[1]
Thomas W. Valente, PhD, professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC says that when evaluating your health goals, it is “important to understand the social structure of the group and the dynamics of influence at play”.[2]
[1] Triplett, N. “The dynamogenic factors in pacemaking and competition”. Indiana University.
[2] Health 24. “Facebook and friends influence health behavior”.
(Submitted by Betty Dean. Written by Sarah Woo. Used by permission from www.LifeandHealth.org. Courtesy of LifeSpring – Resources for Hope and Healing Stuart, VA)
