Social loafing

Laziness is one of the evils of our time. Laziness, lack of desire to work, voluntary idleness… Even sometimes, when we work in a group, something strange happens: the whole is less than the sum of the parts. That is, what each person contributes is less when they are in a group. This is known as social loafing.

Social loafing is the tendency to exert less effort on a task when an individual’s efforts form an unidentifiable part of a group than when the same task is performed alone. The experience of working in a group can lead people to put in less effort, resulting in less efficient performance. A priori, some of the causes are lack of motivation and problems of organization and coordination. Let’s delve into this concept.

The beginning of laziness

In 1880, agricultural engineer Max Ringelmann was the first to study social loafing. Ringelmann had 14 people drag a load and checked the force exerted by each one. He also put the same people to carry the load individually. The results showed that When people dragged the load alone they used more force than when they were all together.

Although Ringelmann attributed this loss of effort to poor coordination, later studies discovered other causes. In a study where participants had to clap and shout as loud as they could, it was found that the level of noise each person made decreased the larger the group they were in. They concluded that people hide in the crowd.

Be as lazy as everyone else

People do not worry about underperforming in a group when their individual contribution is not identifiable. When someone cannot be blamed for their activity being inferior to others, people tend to put in less effort than they could. But social loafing does not only depend on whether or not each individual’s contribution can be identified.

Equity and social comparison are factors that also intervene. The fact that one person in the group does less will lead the other people to settle for doing the same., that is, they will be equitable. On the other hand, comparing one’s performance with that of others produces a feeling of pressure to do more or less than what could be done.

Mental laziness

Social loafing does not only occur when performing tasks that require physical effort. It also occurs in cognitive tasks, especially when we have to think. For example, in a brainstorming session. The larger the group, the more the number of ideas each person contributes will be reduced. As with tasks that require physical effort, for those that require mental effort, fairness and social comparison can lead to laziness.

One area where social loafing occurs a lot is in work groups. When we have to work as a team our effort can be reduced, as can that of all members. Therefore, good coordination with task assignment can lead to each person giving the maximum possible. The fact that one or more people give the maximum can lead others to follow them, but also to do the minimum.

The importance of laziness

The type of task to be performed also influences. Social loafing occurs at a lower level when the tasks are interesting. Also when the level of dependency is high, laziness is reduced. If each individual’s tasks are necessary for success there will be less laziness due to social pressure to achieve success.

Therefore, social loafing does not always occur when working in a group. Some ways to avoid it or at least reduce it are the following:

Make each person’s effort identifiable.Increase commitment to successful task execution.Provide the opportunity to evaluate individual and group contributions.

If we have to carry out a group task, it is important that all group members have high motivation. If not, at least we can try to assess each person’s performance and give it importance in the face of the final objective. Good group work management will require that each member value their work and that of others.

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