EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC ORIGINS OF PERCEIVED SOCIAL LOAFING IN ORGANIZATIONS.
Abstract
It was hypothesized and found that task visibility and intrinsic task involvement would each be negatively associated with “social loafing” in an ongoing organization. Individuals engaged in social...
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When outcomes are identifiable, tasks are visible, and participants are held accountable for their outcomes, the loafing effect is eliminated.
“Subsequent research by Latané (1986) and others demonstrated that when outcomes are identifiable, tasks are visible (George, 1992), and participants are held accountable for their outcomes, the loafing effect is eliminated.”
From The Moderating Influence of In-Group Collectivism on Social Loafing: An Experimental Study on a Manufacturing Factory (2026) · cites this paper as George, 1992
Field research helps determine whether study results can be generalized to intact workgroups in an organizational setting.
“Field research helps determine whether study results can be generalized to intact workgroups in an organizational setting (George, 1992).”
From The Moderating Influence of In-Group Collectivism on Social Loafing: An Experimental Study on a Manufacturing Factory (2026) · cites this paper as George, 1992
A substantial body of research identifies individual responsibility, task identifiability, and accountability as key mechanisms for mitigating social loafing.
“A substantial body of research (e.g., George, 1992; Harkins and Szymanski, 1989) identifies individual responsibility, task identifiability, and accountability as key mechanisms for mitigating social loafing.”
From The Moderating Influence of In-Group Collectivism on Social Loafing: An Experimental Study on a Manufacturing Factory (2026) · cites this paper as George, 1992
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“Motives have been found to be responsible for both OCB and social loafing (Finkelstein & Penner, 2004; George, 1992; Rioux & Penner, 2001).”
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“…meta-analytic evidence suggests, social loafing is fomented when individuals perceive that their contributions are not unique (Karau & Williams, 1993); this perception leads them to think that the exertion of effort will result merely in duplication of effort by another team member (George, 1992).”
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CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AND TASK REFLEXIVITY FOR TEAM IN‐ROLE AND EXTRA‐ROLE PERFORMANCE IN CHINA
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“In terms of the tasks, for instance, higher levels of social loafing occur when the task is unmotivating or meaningless (e.g., Hackman, 1987; George, 1992; Price, 1993), and when it is more invisible and unrecognizable than visible and recognizable (see George, 1992; Liden et al., 2004).”
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Do current anti‐cyberloafing disciplinary practices have a replica in research findings?
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“George (1992) used a survey methodology and found that sales people working in groups for a large US retailer engaged in social loa(cid:133)ng, but that social loa(cid:133)ng and perceived task visibility were negatively related.”
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“If some members withhold effort in a group, team processes and performance will often suffer (Erez & Somech, 1996; George, 1992; Karau & Williams, 1993; Kidwell & Bennett, 1993; Price, Harrison, & Gavin, 2006), and this can be an important source of productivity loss (Steiner, 1972).”
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“George [45] KWSE2 Without being noticed to contribute only part of”
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“Social loafing Employee social loafing was measured using nine items from George (1992), with some items reworded slightly for the more general business context of our study.”
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Self-leadership in organizational teams: A multilevel analysis of moderators and mediators
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“While we conceptualized motivational variables in our study to be independent, future research should examine the functions in more detail, including possible interaction effects (e.g., George, 1992).”
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“These ten statements were adapted from George (1992). Example items include, “Did not do your fair share of the work” and “Left work for other group members that you should have completed.”
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“Social loafing theory (SLT) posits that productivity losses in group work are due to the social loafing phenomenon (George, 1992b; Karau & Williams, 1993).”
BackgroundEthical leadership, trust in organization and their impacts on critical hotel employee outcomes
Eluwole, K. K., Karatepe, O. M., & Avcí, T. (2022) · International Journal of Hospitality Management · doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103153 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on social loafing in online travel communities
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“While prior research shows that job meaningfulness is based on the salesperson’s work having significance to co-workers or the company itself (George, 1992; Hackman & Oldham, 1976)—or “the extent to which the person feels the job makes a meaningful contribution and is important to the…”
BackgroundPreference for Group Work, Winning Orientation, and Social Loafing Behavior in Groups
Stark, E. M., Shaw, J. D., & Duffy, M. K. (2007) · Group & Organization Management · doi:10.1177/1059601106291130 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
“Self-reported social loafing was assessed using a three-item scale adapted from George (1992) at Time 2 (α = .”
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Kidwell, R. E., & Robie, C. (2003) · Journal of Business and Psychology · doi:10.1023/a:1023456319134 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
“Items 10 to 12 and 20 were adapted from a study in which social loafing was the relevant variable (George, 1992).”
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Understanding social loafing in knowledge contribution from the perspectives of justice and trust
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“Although researchers have identified several conditions which can curb group members’ propensity to social loafing (George, 1992; Karau & Williams, 1995; Kidwell & Bennett N., 1993), few have investigated KCL from the perspectives of trust.”
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Luo, Z., Qu, H., & Marnburg, E. (2012) · International Journal of Hospitality Management · doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2012.11.005 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
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“To date, the most frequently cited evidence of loafing in organizational workgroups comes from surveybased studies that have examined perceptions of loafing (e.g., George 1992, Liden et al. 2004).”
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“One interpretation is that employees could be social loafing at work (George 1992).”
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“Whereas many questionnaires measuring social loafing exist (e.g., George, 1992; Kidwell & Robie, 2003; or Liden et al., 2004), there are no instruments for coding behavioural social loafing in group situations.”
BackgroundTeam Training in China: Testing and Applying the Theory of Cooperation and Competition1
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“However, research has documented that dynamics such as social loafing, free riders, and the inability to share diverse information and to discuss diverse views openly can frustrate groups (George, 1992; Janis, 1972; Karau & Williams, 1993; Lott & Lott, 1965; Stasser & Titus, 2003; Zander, 1977).”
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“Organizational scholars who study free-riding in organizational groups have labeled the phenomenon social loafi ng (see for example George, 1992).”
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“Thus, increasing task visibility can reduce social loafing in the work environment (Jones 1984, George 1992, Liden et al .”
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“…that individuals tend to loaf when they feel anonymous (either due to larger group size or because they perceive that their contributions are not salient) or when they perceive their co-workers to loaf (Kidwell & Bennett, 1993; George, 1992; Huguet, Charbonnier, & Monteil, 1999; Kerr, 1983).”
BackgroundOverall justice, work group identification and work outcomes: Test of moderated mediation process
Patel, C., Budhwar, P. S., & Varma, A. (2011) · Journal of World Business · doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2011.04.008 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
“Researchers such as Gagne and Zuckerman (1999) found that identifiably of individual contributions; task visibility (George, 1992); potential for evaluation of individual contributions (Karau & Williams, 1994); and incentives for high performance (George, 1995; Miles & Greenberg, 1993) were all…”
Getting More out of Team Projects: Incentivizing Leadership to Enhance Performance
Ferrante, C. J., Green, S. G., & Forster, W. R. (2006) · Organizational Behavior Teaching Review · doi:10.1177/1052562906287968 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
“Social loafing, also referred to in the teamwork literature as the “free-rider” problem, may result in some students who do not participate to the best of their abilities and a general decrease in individual effort (George, 1992; Liden et al., 2004).”
BackgroundMihelič, K. K., & Culiberg, B. (2018) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-018-3933-z · Cited by 55 · see citing works
“Therefore, this study contributes to this line of research and provides a more nuanced understanding of the attitude–intention link by introducing extrinsic motivation as a moderator, which takes account of the fact that the fun‐ damental underpinnings of social loafing are motivational (George 1992; Shepperd 1993).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialBringing cyber loafers back on the right track
Zoghbi‐Manrique‐de‐Lara, P., & Olivares‐Mesa, A. (2010) · Industrial Management & Data Systems · doi:10.1108/02635571011069095 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“Overall, proximity increases the supervisor’s opportunity to interact with employees (Bass, 1990); thus, proximity could make it easier for supervisors to determine whether the employee is slacking (George, 1992; Jones, 1984; Murphy et al., 2003).”
BackgroundSocial Loafing and Motivation Gains in Groups: An Integrative Review
Karau, S. J., & Wilhau, A. J. (2020) · Individual Motivation within Groups · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-849867-5.00001-x · Cited by 50 · see citing works
The Role of Communication and Cohesion in Reducing Social Loafing in Group Projects
Lam, C. (2015) · Business and Professional Communication Quarterly · doi:10.1177/2329490615596417 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
“his or her work is not visible to fellow teammates, he or she may be less inclined to complete the task at all (Karau & Williams, 1993; George, 1992).”
BackgroundActivity awareness, social presence, and motivation in distributed virtual teams
Haines, R. P. (2020) · Information & Management · doi:10.1016/j.im.2020.103425 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
The Effects of Perceived Loafing and Defensive Impression Management on Group Effectiveness
Mulvey, P. W., Bowes‐Sperry, L., & Klein, H. J. (1998) · Small Group Research · doi:10.1177/1046496498293006 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
More than idle talk: Examining the effects of positive and negative team gossip
Spoelma, T. M., & Hetrick, A. L. (2021) · Journal of Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1002/job.2522 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Perry, S. J., Lorinkova, N., Hunter, E. M., Hubbard, A., & McMahon, J. T. (2013) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/0149206313475814 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
“In general, social loafing occurs because of motivational factors (e.g., george, 1992), individual differences (e.g., Charbonnier, Pascal, Brauer, & Monteil, 1998; Smith, Kerr, Markus, & Stasson, 2001), and/or situational factors (e.g., george & Jones, 1997; Williams & Karau, 1991).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialThe dynamic nature of interpersonal conflict and psychological strain in extreme work settings.
Somaraju, A. V., Griffin, D. J., Olenick, J. S., Chang, C.-H. D., & Kozlowski, S. W. J. (2021) · Journal of Occupational Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/ocp0000290 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Blaskovich, J. L. (2008) · Journal of Information Systems · doi:10.2308/jis.2008.22.1.27 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Harding, L. M. (2017) · Journal of Marketing Education · doi:10.1177/0273475317708588 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
“For instance, people are more likely to free-ride when they believe it will be difficult to identify their individual contributions (George, 1992; Harkins & Jackson, 1985; Jones, 1984; Karau & Williams, 1993; Liden, Wayne, Jaworski, & Bennett, 2004; Price, Harrison, & Gavin, 2006; K. D. Williams,…”
BackgroundA new perspective on de-individuation via computer-mediated communication
Haines, R. P., & Mann, J. E. C. (2011) · European Journal of Information Systems · doi:10.1057/ejis.2010.70 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
“Task visibility is a modified version of the scale used by George (1992), and measures the extent to which a member feels that other group members are aware of individual effort exerted toward helping the group get organized.”
BackgroundSocial and Behavioral Influences on Team Process
Adams, S. L., & Anantatmula, V. S. (2010) · Project Management Journal · doi:10.1002/pmj.20192 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
“George (1992) approached the topic from a more personal perspective and tied the underlying reasons to personal satisfaction with the task to be accomplished.”
BackgroundThomas, A. (2025) · Journal of Knowledge Management · doi:10.1108/jkm-03-2025-0399 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Should I e-collaborate with this group? A multilevel model of usage intentions
Turel, O., & Zhang, Y. (2011) · Information & Management · doi:10.1016/j.im.2010.12.004 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Taking a free ride: How team learning affects social loafing.
Gabelica, C., Mæyer, S. D., & Schippers, M. C. (2021) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/edu0000713 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
“We assessed social loafing tendencies with a 4-item measure derived from a questionnaire developed by George (1992) and adapted by Schippers (2014).”
BackgroundMethodZhou, X., Chen, C., Li, W., Yao, Y., Cai, F., Xu, J., & Qin, X. (2025) · Human Resource Management · doi:10.1002/hrm.22299 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Developing a tool for intellectual capital assessment: an individual‐level perspective
Mura, M., & Longo, M. (2012) · Expert Systems · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0394.2012.00650.x · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Ferrari, J. R., & Pychyl, T. A. (2012) · North American journal of psychology · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Implementation of evidence-based practices
Chou, A. F., Vaughn, T. E., McCoy, K. D., & Doebbeling, B. N. (2011) · Health Care Management Review · doi:10.1097/hmr.0b013e3181dc8233 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“Social loafing, on the basis of the unidentifiable nature of individual contributions to a group product, often explains lower individual motivation in terms of the perceived weak relationship between individual effort and sanctions or reward (George, 1992).”
BackgroundIndividualism–collectivism and team member performance: Another look
Wagner, J. A., Humphrey, S. E., Meyer, C. J., & Hollenbeck, J. R. (2011) · Journal of Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1002/job.783 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“Social loafing is a reduction in performance on shared tasks that occurs in groups because of beliefs that personal efforts are not easily identifiable or that such efforts are unimportant relative to group success (George, 1992; Kerr & Brun, 1983; Latané, Williams, & Harkins, 1979).”
BackgroundHow Leaders’ Diversity Beliefs Alter the Impact of Faultlines on Team Functioning
Schölmerich, F., Schermuly, C. C., & Deller, J. (2016) · Small Group Research · doi:10.1177/1046496416630960 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“We adapted eight items to measure perceived loafing (George, 1992; Vogt, 2004).”
MethodPredictors of Employee Preferences for Multirater and Group-Based Performance Appraisal
Waldman, D. A. (1997) · Group & Organization Management · doi:10.1177/1059601197222007 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Coccia, M. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3706-1 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Ye, Y., Chen, M., Wu, L., & Kwan, H. K. (2022) · International Journal of Hospitality Management · doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103420 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
- Authors
- George, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Texas A&M University (US)
- Corresponding author
- George, J. M.
- Venue
- Academy of Management Journal
- Publisher
- Academy of Management
- Published
- 1992-03-01
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 191-202
- ISSN
- 0001-4273 (ISSN-L)
- 1948-0989
- OpenAlex
- W2152533089
- Semantic Scholar
- 5942d065b6a336a8069f1751af1c98cede658898
- Cited by
- 407
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 6.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Academy of Management Journal (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Team Dynamics and Performance
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- social loafing, task visibility, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, group performance, organizational behavior
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