Social loafing is an important concept that can be identifiable in our everyday lives, for example through school work, household chores, employment and even sporting activities. The current research investigated the effect of social loafing on collective and coactive conditions through an experiment that required participants to complete a brainstorming task asking them to list as many ways to use a pencil as possible. Results indicated that social loafing was not significant under collective and coactive conditions. However, group work improved the number of participants' responses. The findings have important effects for reducing or eliminating social loafing to ensure that participants are responsible for their own activities, whether in an individual or group setting. Karau and Williams (1993) formulated the conceptual idea that participants performing a group task would identify aspects of social loafing and thus group cohesion would eliminate participants' laziness. Shepperd, Stephen, Wright, and Rex (1989) also established that the concept of social loafing is related to impression management. Impression management is a conscious or unconscious goal-directed process in which participants attempt to influence the perceptions of others (Stephen, Wright, & Rex, 1989). In another theoretical concept of social loafing, Kerr (1983) demonstrated the free-rider effect by addressing the role of the “sucker” in experimental groups. In stating this, it is evident that the many concepts surrounding social loafing arise from the same fundamental principles. Although there are conflicting views on social loafing, the results of this experiment do not show a significant difference in social loafing between collective and coact...... middle of paper ..... . the strength of the experiment rather than a limitation that future studies should also monitor. The current study identified that social loafing is less likely under collective conditions than under coactive conditions, although the results were not significant. This study supports Worchel, Rothgerber & Day's (2011) research, as participants who worked in newly formed groups worked harder in groups than alone. This has been shown to occur for a number of reasons, including group goal setting and group-level comparison between participants. Future studies should consider the influence of group tasks on group development. In conclusion, social loafing in collective groups is not significantly lower than the coactive condition, but results may vary in future experiments due to the existence of new variables, different participants and a change in methodology in future experiences..