Celebrities and slackers: A grounded theory of the dynamics of social loafing on student teams

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how team members identify the social loafers on their teams and how they explain and manage social loafers' behavior. The participants (n=49) in the study included members of student teams participating in a service project as a part of their coursework. We collected multiple sources of information: in-depth interviews, reflection journals, peer evaluations, and observations of team members interacting. Using attribution theory and status characteristics theory we describe how team members identify social loafer and explain the causes of their behavior. We also explore how those attributions affect team members' interactions with the social loafers. The status of social loafers in the eyes of their teammates affects teammates' willingness to accommodate or reject the social loafer. We identify strategies used by team members to manage the behavior of social loafers. We conclude with recommendations for practice and future research on social loafing.

Promoting regulation of equal participation in online collaboration by combining a group awareness tool and adaptive prompts. But does it even matter?

“…Depending on these factors, the remaining team members may rather compensate for missing contributions, instead of reducing their own efforts (cf. Harding 2018;Williams and Karau 1991) or even pressuring the 'loafing' group members to contribute (Boren and Morales 2018;Freeman and Greenacre 2011). Note here, that the results by Freeman and Greenacre (2011) suggest that students may not be sensitive to the difference between students who contribute less due to a lack of competence instead of a lack of effort.…”

“…At the core of the present study was the distribution of participation during web-based collaboration. Based on the numerous studies that consistently found unfavorable effects of unequal participation, social-loafing and free-riding behavior (Aggarwal and O'Brien 2008;Boren and Morales 2018;Capdeferro and Romero 2012;Freeman and Greenacre 2011;Goold et al 2008;Harding 2018;Johnson and Johnson 2009;Karau and Williams 1993;Kerr 1983;Khalil and Ebner 2014;Le et al 2018;Monzani et al 2014;Peñarroja et al 2017;Price et al 2006;Robert 2020;Williams and Karau 1991), our study was guided by the premise that equal participation during collaboration is beneficial for collaboration. We acknowledge that using the number of words as an indicator for participation might not be optimal.…”

“…As research on social loafing has shown, team members interpret unequal participation differently and consequently react to it in different ways. For example, research has shown that students' reactions depend on the perceived status of the loafing group member and on the perceived reason for the loafing behavior (Boren and Morales 2018), as well as on individual characteristics of the other group members such as conscientiousness (Schippers 2014). Depending on these factors, the remaining team members may rather compensate for missing contributions, instead of reducing their own efforts (cf.…”

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

“…With social loafing interfering with this common intent for most students in their schooling, the use of different mechanisms to deal with such behavior within their groups is deemed crucial and necessary. This can be achieved through member confrontation to the social loafers (Zastrow, 2009), and reporting to instructors (Boren & Morales, 2018;Goo, 2011). Boren and Morales (2018) observed that member reactions to social loafers were determined by their status, with low status social loafers strictly being treated as per the rules established without further negotiations as opposed to high status social loafers.…”

“…There is no doubt that all this is possible because of the employment of leadership and decision making skills among the group members. Therefore, training the students on the skills may facilitate their working in groups (Boren & Morales, 2018). The article has revealed three main approaches used by students to react to the social loafers each of which with their inherent drawbacks.…”