ELI5: social loafing
// explanation
What is social loafing?
Social loafing is when someone doesn't try as hard when they're part of a group compared to when they work by themselves [1]. It's like how you might not pedal as hard on a group bike ride because other people are helping push it along [1][3].
Why does it happen?
When you're in a group, your effort gets mixed in with everyone else's, so nobody notices if you're not trying your best [1][2]. It's harder for people to tell if you're slacking off when there are lots of other people working too [1].
What does it feel like?
It feels like you can kind of relax a little bit because the group will get the job done anyway, even if you don't give 100% [3]. Your individual effort doesn't seem as important when you're surrounded by other people [2].
How do you fix it?
You can make everyone's effort count by having people work on specific, measurable tasks where you can see who did what [1]. When people know their work will be seen and judged individually, they try much harder [1][4].
// sources
In social psychology, social loafing is the phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when working alone.
Sep 7, 2023 ... Social loafing is a phenomenon which occurs in groups of people that limits the amount of effort that each group member exerts (thus reducing individual ...
Dec 27, 2025 ... Social loafing describes the tendency of individuals to put forth less effort when they are part of a group.
For example,. Harkins (1987) offered an excellent analysis of the impact of evaluation on social loafing, and Kerr (1983) contributed an equally effective ...
Social loafing seems to occur when people perform together in groups, regardless of whether or not they must also perform alone.
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