Social Loafing: Working hard or Hardly working?

When was the last time you worked in a group? Think back to that moment. Would you say you exerted more effort in the group or would you have exerted more effort if you were to do it alone? Notice: I did not say more work; it is about how much effort you put in. Psychology says you naturally work less when in a group. That is social loafing.

Social loafing describes a psychological phenomenon where individuals put in less effort when working in a group compared to when they work alone. The guy that discovered this is called Max Ringelmann, and his experiment was quite simple. When told a person was pulling a rope by themselves vs in a group, they pulled less when told a group was pulling with them. So, why does this happen?

The main reason is diffusion of responsibility. We feel less accountable for the outcome when more people are responsible for it. If you recall correctly, this is similar to the bystander effect. Another problem here is that the more people that join a group, the easier it is to hide a person’s lack of contribution.

This commonly happens in school projects, (I’ve done too many group projects on my own so I can guarantee this.) workplace projects, and sometimes even sports teams, although passion for the game might reduce this effect at some levels. 

So next time you slack off in a group project, blame psychology.

So next time you slack off in a group project, blame psychology.