Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) measures were taken to assess performs' anxiety levels while they performed in front of heterogeneous and homogeneous audiences. The addition of one high school student to an audience of one faculty member lowered MAR whereas the addition of the same student to an audience of one high school student raised MAP In addition, subjects' MAP levels were elevated when their performance was observed by a faculty member and by two high school students relative to a setting in which no audience was present (i.e., an alone condition). The results support predictions made by the averaging-summation model and suggest that individuals are sensitive to both the average and the summative impact of evaluative audience members. 7he importance of considering the composition of audiences for predictions about individuals' anxiety levels is discussed.
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