Individual Differences in the Effect of Social Presence on Vigilance Performance: The Role of Personality Traits

Abstract

Some research has suggested that social presence may improve performance. However, results in this area have been inconsistent, and it may be the case that individual differences in personality are crucial moderators of the effect of social presence on vigilance performance. Thus, the present study examined the effect of personality traits on performing a vigilance task in various social contexts. 124 participants completed a 24-minute vigilance task either alone, with an evaluative observer, with an independent co-actor, or both. Results indicated that conscientiousness was the only trait to interact with experimental condition, such that conscientious individuals reported higher task motivation when completing the task either alone or in the presence of both an evaluator and co-actor. The present results suggest that while conscientiousness may not affect performance, it may be an important moderator of motivation for vigilance tasks.