Diffusion of responsibility in group work: Social loafing

Contemporary businesses are rapidly embracing virtual collaboration as a flexible, cheaper, and more efficient method for conducting group work. Past research has shown, however, that virtual groups operate quite differently than face-to-face groups. In this study, Social Impact Theory provides a framework to investigate whether virtual collaboration heightens social loafing—the tendency for individuals to contribute less than full effort to a group. The theory predicts that member distance, inherent in virtual collaboration, increases the propensity of group members to loaf, and decreases group performance. Two hundred seventy-nine participants assigned to face-to-face or virtual groups completed a business resources allocation task. Results suggest that virtual collaboration negatively affects group performance and that social loafing behavior may partially explain this result. The findings imply that organizations should carefully consider whether virtual collaboration can be seamlessly substituted for face-to-face group interaction.

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The Social Psychology of Online Collaborative Learning

Web-Based Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-61520-963-7.ch078 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 1146-1161

Author(s):

Donna Ashcraft ◽

Thomas Treadwell

Keyword(s):

Collaborative Learning ◽

Group Work ◽

Cognitive Distortions ◽

Social Loafing ◽

Face To Face ◽

Psychological Phenomena ◽

Online Tools ◽

The Social ◽

Teaching Learning ◽

Online Group

Many social psychological phenomena that are found in face-to-face group work are also found in online group work (i.e., collaborative learning). In this chapter, we describe some of these more common phenomena, including social loafing, social categorization, and a variety of cognitive distortions. We also describe the stages that groups go through in order to become fully functioning teams. Because some of these experiences are unpleasant for both the instructor and the student, both faculty andstudents sometimes resist the use of collaborativelearning. Furthermore, because of the anonymous nature of online group work, these negative experiences can be magnified. We therefore make recommendations on how best to respond to and resolve them. We specifically draw on our experiences with Collaborative Online Research andLearning (CORAL) in order to demonstrate these phenomena and recommendations. CORAL is a teaching/learning method that integrates two course topics through assignments. Teams of students at two universities must complete together by utilizing video conferencing and other online tools.

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Exploring antecedents of social loafing in students’ group work: A mixed-methods approach

Journal of Hospitality Leisure Sport & Tourism Education ◽

10.1016/j.jhlste.2021.100314 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. 100314

Author(s):

Zhenpeng Luo ◽

Einar Marnburg ◽

Torvald Øgaard ◽

Fevzi Okumus

Keyword(s):

Mixed Methods ◽

Group Work ◽

Social Loafing ◽

Mixed Methods Approach

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Member Reactions to Social Loafers When Doing Group-Based Assignments: A Group Processes Perspective

Multidisciplinary Journal of Educational Research ◽

10.17583/remie.2019.3836 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 25 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Joseph Reginard Milinga ◽

Ezelina Angetile Kibonde ◽

Venance Paul Mallya ◽

Monica Asagwile Mwakifuna

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Student Teachers ◽

Group Work ◽

Group Processes ◽

Social Loafing ◽

Continuous Assessment ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Face To Face ◽

Group Members ◽

Solid Foundation

Understanding how student teachers undertake their group work may provide solid foundation for developing essential skills required for the 21st Century teachers, and subsequently help improve group-based assessment in higher education. However, social loafing has been found to interfere with this assessment mode. This article reports on undergraduate student teachers’ reactions to social loafers when working on group assignments as part of their continuous assessment. It focuses on how they go about doing their group work and react to the social loafers. The data were collected using face-to-face semi-structured interviews from 18 purposefully and conveniently selected participants. The findings have indicated procedures that students observe in doing their group assignments such as formulation of own group norms and rules, and holding of meetings for the work being determined by the nature of the assignments, and their submission deadlines. Additionally, it has been found that group members employ humanitarian, punitive and threatening approaches as they react to social loafers. The article concludes that proper planning for students’ group assignments is important and; both instructors and students should play their roles accordingly to overcome the problem of social loafing when the use of group-based assessments is indispensable within higher education contexts.

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Hubungan Self-Efficacy dan Social Loafing Tendency Pada Mahasiswa

Talenta Conference Series Local Wisdom Social and Arts (LWSA) ◽

10.32734/lwsa.v1i1.173 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 258-263

Author(s):

Regina A S Purba ◽

Rika Eliana

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Learning Process ◽

Group Work ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Learning Approach ◽

Social Loafing ◽

The Social ◽

The Individual ◽

The University

Pendekatan pembelajaran yang berbasis tugas atau kerja kelompok bukan hal yang asing bagi para mahasiwa. Namun tugas yang diberikan dengan cara berkelompok memungkinkan terjadinya pemalasan sosial (social loafing), dimana individu mengurangi usahanya ketika ia bekerja dalam kelompok, dibandingkan ketika ia bekerja secara individual. Artinya pemberian tugas secara berkelompok bisa membuat individu yang seharusnya bertanggung jawab secara pribadi apabila tidak terkontrol dapat memungkinkan terjadinya pemalasan sosial yang justru menurunkan efektivitas pembelajaran itu sendiri. Untuk itu penelitian ini dilakukan bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah ada hubungan self- efficacy (keyakinan seseorang tentang kemampuan individu untuk melakukan satu tugas) dengan social loafing tendency. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan terhadap 300 mahasiwa pertanian dari dua universitas di kota Medan yaitu 150 mahasiswa dari Universitas Sumatera Utara dan 150 mahasiswa dari Universitas Methodis Indonesia. Proses pembelajaran melalui metode pembelajaran yang berbasis tugas kelompok cukup dominan menonjol khususnya di fakultas Pertanian di kedua universitas tersebut. Pengukuran menggunakan alat ukur Social Loafing Tendency berdasarkan teori Latane, sedangkan Self Efficacy berdasarkan Bandura. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ada hubungan negative antara kedua variable tersebut. Semakin tinggi self-efficacy seseorang maka semakin rendah social loafing tendency. A task-based or group work learning approach is not a new thing for the college students. But the task given in groups allows social loafing, where the individual reduces his effort when he works in groups, compared to when he works individually. This means that giving assignments in groups can make individuals who should be personally responsible if they are not controlled can allow social idling which actually reduces the effectiveness of learning itself. For this reason, the study was conducted aimed at finding out whether there is a relationship between self-efficacy (a person's belief in an individual's ability to do a task) and social loafing tendency. The study was conducted on 300 agricultural students from two universities in Medan, with 150 students from the University of Sumatera Utara and 150 students from the Methodist University of Indonesia. The learning process through group-based learning methods was quite dominant, especially in the Faculty of Agriculture in both universities. The measurements done by using a Social Loafing Tendency based on Latane theory and Self Efficacy which based on Bandura. The results showed that there was a negative relationship between the two variables. The higher a person's self-efficacy, the lower the social loafing tendency.

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The Social Psychology of Online Collaborative Learning

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-753-9.ch007 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 140-163 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Donna Ashcraft ◽

Thomas Treadwell

Keyword(s):

Collaborative Learning ◽

Group Work ◽

Cognitive Distortions ◽

Social Loafing ◽

Face To Face ◽

Psychological Phenomena ◽

Online Tools ◽

The Social ◽

Teaching Learning ◽

Online Group

Many social psychological phenomena that are found in face-to-face group work are also found in online group work (i.e., collaborative learning). In this chapter, we describe some of these more common phenomena, including social loafing, social categorization, and a variety of cognitive distortions. We also describe the stages that groups go through in order to become fully functioning teams. Because some of these experiences are unpleasant for both the instructor and the student, both faculty and students sometimes resist the use of collaborative learning. Furthermore, because of the anonymous nature of online group work, these negative experiences can be magnified. We therefore make recommendations on how best to respond to and resolve them. We specifically draw on our experiences with Collaborative Online Research and Learning (CORAL) in order to demonstrate these phenomena and recommendations. CORAL is a teaching/learning method that integrates two course topics through assignments. Teams of students at two universities must complete together by utilizing video conferencing and other online tools.

Download Full-text