Social loafing refers to the reduction in effort and motivation individuals exhibit when working in groups compared to working alone, often leading to decreased group productivity. Factors such as identifiable contributions, the perceived impact of one's efforts, and task importance influence the likelihood of social loafing occurring. Techniques to reduce social loafing include making individual contributions recognizable, increasing commitment to the group's success, emphasizing task importance, and providing performance standards.

1. SOCIAL
LOAFING

2. SOCIAL LOAFING
 When individuals work together on an additive task, where their contributions
are combined, social loafing— reduced output by each group member—
frequently occurs.
 Social Loafing : Reductions in motivation and effort when individuals work in a
group compared to when they work individually. This is viewed as one of the
main reasons as to why groups are sometimes less productive than the
combined performance of their members working as individuals.
 Such loafing has been found on physical, cognitive, and verbal tasks among
both adults and children.

3.  One of the first studies on this topic was conducted by Latane, Williams, and
Harkins (1979). In this study, students alone or in groups of two, four, or six were
put in soundproof rooms and asked to clap and cheer as loudly as possible.
Result indicated that each person put out less and less effort as the size of the
group increased.
 The main explanation for social loafing is that people feel unmotivated when
working with a team, because they think that their contributions will not be
evaluated or considered.
 According to the results of a meta-analysis study, social loafing is a pervasive
phenomenon, but it does not occur when team members feel that the task or
the team itself is important. It can occur when the person feels under
appreciated within their team or group.

4.  Social loafing occurs in a group situation in which the presence of others
causes relaxation instead of arousal. When individuals relax their performance,
they are able to fade into the crowd, which is especially appealing to people
when they know they are not going to be accountable for their actions or
performance. In easier, less demanding tasks, people think that they can “get a
free ride” because someone else will surely pick up the slack.

5. When several people work together to accomplish a task like this, it is probable that they will
not all exert the same amount of effort. Some will work very hard, others will do less, and
perhaps a few will do nothing at all, while pretending to work hard. Social loafing in groups
tends to reduce their output overall.

6. What factors influence social
loafing?
 Identifiable Contributions: One factor that influences social loafing is whether
people believe that their own contribution will be recognized. People socially
loaf in part because they can “hide-in-the-crowd.” Making their outputs
identifiable decreases the tendency to withdraw effort even in a group setting.
In turn, people do not socially loaf when their own outputs will be evaluated,
especially if these outputs will be compared to that of others’, or if they will
receive individual feedback about their efforts.
 Contributions’ Impact: Another factor that influences social loafing is whether
you believe your efforts will have an impact on the group’s performance. People
who must perform a difficult and unique task don’t withdraw effort, even when
their individual output won’t be evaluated . In this case, they feel they can make

7. a unique and important contribution to group effort. On the other hand, people
who believe their efforts aren’t necessary for the success of the group tend to
display less effort. After all, nobody wants to be the “sucker” who does all the
work while others rest. (This is one reason why many students fear group
projects—they are concerned that they will end up being the one who does all
the work for the group.)
 Task Importance: People are also motivated to work hard on a group task if
the task is highly important to them. If you are working on a group lab report for
your social psychology class, and you hope your professor will write a letter of
recommendation for you for graduate school, you are likely to work hard on the
project even if others in your group are not contributing much.

8. Reducing Social Loafing: Some Useful
Techniques
1. The most obvious way of reducing social loafing involves making the output
or effort of each participant readily identifiable. Under these conditions,
people can’t sit back and let others do their work, so social loafing is reduced.
When people believe their contribution matters, and a strong performance
on the part of the group will lead to a desired outcome, individuals also tend
to try harder.
2. Groups can reduce social loafing by increasing group members’ commitment
to successful task performance. Pressures toward working hard will then
serve to offset temptations to engage in social loafing.

9. 3. Social loafing can be reduced by increasing the apparent importance or value
of a task.
4. People are less likely to loaf if they are given some kind of standard of
performance—either in terms of how much others are doing or their own
past performance. An interesting study with students in a marketing class
showed that group members themselves can provide such feedback to each
other over the course of a joint project and that doing so reduces social
loafing.