the relaxation that results when people are in a group and their individual performance cannot be evaluated; this relaxation impairs performance on simple tasks but enhances performance on complex tasks

a decrease in the individual effort exerted by group members when working together on a task. (616)

The tendency for people to work less hard in a group than when working alone. go to glossary index

Shirking individual responsibility in a group setting. [9

Group-induced reduction in individual output when performer's efforts are pooled, and thus, cannot be individually judged.

A group-produced reduction in individual output on easy tasks where contributions are pooled.

The tendency of individual group members to reduce their work effort as groups increase in size as displayed by the inclination to "goof off" when performance is needed in a group, miss meetings, show up late, or fail to start or complete individual tasks.

An undesirable condition in which individual s who are work ing on a project fail to take initiative because they believe that someone else will do it, or should do it (because it is someone else's responsibility.) Editor's Note: Often as a result of some personal hurt and feeling of resentment. [D02339] PMH p321

An example of the diffusion of social impact in which people working collectively on a task generate less total effort than they would had they worked alone.

behaviour in which team members withhold their efforts and fail to perform their share of the work

In the social psychology of groups, social loafing is the phenomenon that persons make less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone. This is one of the main reasons that groups sometimes perform less than the combined performance of their members working as individuals.