Think of a time when you observed, or exhibited, social loafing. What contributed to it? How could it have been prevented or minimized?
Answers
Answer:
If you have ever worked as part of a group toward a larger goal, then you have undoubtedly experienced this psychological phenomenon firsthand. And if you’ve ever led a group, then you have likely felt frustration at the lack of effort that group members sometimes put forth. Why does this sometimes aggravating malingering happen?
Psychologists have come up with a few possible explanations.1
Motivation (or lack thereof): This can play an important role in determining whether social loafing takes place. People who are less motivated by a task are more likely to engage in social loafing when they are part of a group.
Diffusion of responsibility: People are more likely to engage in social loafing if they feel less personally accountable for a task, and know their individual efforts have little impact on the overall outcome. This is often used to explain the bystander effect, or the tendency to be less likely to help a person in need when others are present.