Social Loafing

22/2/14

It has almost been a week from my second lecture of Social Psychology, and the first

topic that was thought to us by our lecturer was the basics of Social Psychology, and what it is

all about. Mr Shankar introduced the class to the subject with a few concepts that everybody

goes through in their lives. Then, he talked about ‘Social Loafing’ when I realized that this

concept was something that I’ve experienced almost every time throughout my entire course.

Once, we were given this project last semester, where we had to come up with an info-graphic

poster for one of our assignments. I called for meetings and the group members did not show

up regardless of how close we were to the due date. In the end, I finished the assignment

myself, and handed it in on the due date. When the results were shown, our group can an A for

our assignment grade, but only based on my efforts. The lecturer in charge failed to see the

efforts the other group members put in, which was zero percent. In conclusion, the other group

members’ efforts deteriorated in the presence of others, supporting the concept of ‘Social

Loafing’. The group members make less of an effort for each other than they would if they were

to achieve their own goals. As a result, their individual efforts cannot be recognized, where my

hard efforts were not recognized while their major lack of effort was also not recognized

resulting in equal grading among all of us.