Being observed magnifies action.

Abstract

We test the hypothesis that people, when observed, perceive their actions as more substantial because they add the audience's perspective to their own perspective. We find that participants who were observed while eating (Study 1) or learned they were observed after eating (Study 2) recalled eating a larger portion than unobserved participants. The presence of others magnified both desirable and undesirable actions. Thus, observed (vs. unobserved) participants believed they gave both more correct and incorrect answers in a lab task (Study 3) and, moving to a field study, the larger the audience, the larger the contribution badminton players claimed toward their teams' successes as well as failures (Study 4). In contrast to actions, inactions are not magnified, because they are unobservable; indeed, observed (vs. unobserved) participants believed they solved more task problems but did not skip more problems (Study 5). Taken together, these studies show that being observed fundamentally alters the subjective magnitude of one's actions. (PsycINFO Database Record

Wanting without enjoying: The social value of sharing experiences

“…Similarly, observing others’ actions can influence one’s memory of their own actions [41]. For example, eating or playing sports in the presence of others can change how much individuals remember they ate or how much success they attribute to their sporting performance [42]. The idea that motivations to experience commonality with others shape thought and action is part of a broader framework known as “relevance of activated representations” (ROAR) [43].…”

Wanting without enjoying: The social value of sharing experiences

“…Similarly, observing others' actions can influence one's memory of their own actions https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0215318.g001 [41]. For example, eating or playing sports in the presence of others can change how much individuals remember they ate or how much success they attribute to their sporting performance [42]. The idea that motivations to experience commonality with others shape thought and action is part of a broader framework known as "relevance of activated representations" (ROAR) [43].…”

Choice Matters More with Others: Choosing to be with Other People is More Consequential to Well-Being than Choosing to be Alone

“…As a result, responses to social presence are known to be either highly facilitative or highly inhibitive compared to alone settings (Uziel, 2007). More so, recent experimental findings have indicated that events taking place during social interactions are amplified and perceived to be stronger, for better or worse (Boothby et al, 2014;Steinmetz et al, 2016). These characteristics set the stage for more extreme reactions to similar processes when they occur in a 'with others' context than in an alone context.…”