This week, in tandem with your team projects, you read about and viewed videos pertaining to challenges in group communication and group processes. One such challenge is a phenomena known as “social loafing” — studied (and named) by social psychologists to describe one impact that having multiple people working on a project can have on individual members’ contributions.
Social Loafing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOzXkdCDA64
Watch the video and please answer the following questions:
Discuss social loafing in groups. What theory explains why this occurs?
Describe 3 instances of social loafing in the video. What is happening to make you think this person is a social loafer?
As a team or group member, what steps might you take to discourage social loafing? How would you detect that it is occurring? What would you recommend to handle members who are social loafers?
Have you been in situations at work when you felt drawn to be a social loafer (please try to be honest–there is no judgment here). What about group life and group member behaviors can inadvertently encourage this behavior among some group members?
Post your response as a “New Thread” on the Week 10 discussion forum. Your initial post must be a minimum of 150 words. Make sure your post shows evidence that you have completed and understood the readings for this week by using the concepts/theories that were covered and by including quotes and examples from the readings that help you answer the questions. Remember to include in-text citations and references using APA style.
