No matter what piece she played, the pianist made more errors in front of an audience than when practicing alone. This is best explained by the mere presence hypothesis.

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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The best explanation for this phenomenon is the social facilitation theory, which suggests that the presence of others (an audience, in this case) can enhance or impair performance. The mere presence hypothesis is a component of social facilitation theory, focusing on how the mere presence of others can affect performance, but it does not specifically address how performance might worsen due to anxiety or pressure from being observed. The pianist making more errors in front of an audience is more directly related to the aspect of social facilitation that concerns the impact of audience pressure and evaluation apprehension on performance.

No Matter What Piece She Played, the Pianist Made More