What is Social Loafing?Social Loafing is something that everyone has experienced. Most likely, if you don't like group work, this is one of the main reasons. “Social load describes the tendency of individuals to exert less effort when they are part of a group. Because all members of the group pool their efforts to achieve a common goal, each member of the group contributes less than he or she would if he or she were individually responsible” (Cherry). This challenges the common belief that group work will be more productive. In 1913, a researcher named Ringelmann designed a rope-pulling experiment to test the effect of social loitering. His experiment revealed that when an individual was placed in a group, their efforts were less. This effect continued to increase as group size increased. Originally, there was debate over whether the loss was due to social loafing or loss of coordination. It wasn't until another experiment was conducted, making participants believe they were working with a group, that social loafing was confirmed. Studies have also shown the opposite effect known as social facilitation. Originally, research into social facilitation began with Zajon. In his research, he believed that the presence of others would increase the effort of others and therefore generally elicit performance, thereby increasing the individual's exclusion. He hypothesized that there are several necessary aspects such as simple or familiar tasks. However, if a task is complicated or unfamiliar, increasing group size would hinder productivity by increasing social loafing (Zajonc, 1965). This shows that social loafing is not limited to group size, but that there are other factors that contribute to reduced individual performance.C...... middle of article.... .. Revision and theoretical integration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 701. Kugihara, N. (1999). Gender and social loitering in Japan. Journal of Social Psychology, 139, 516-526. Robbins, SP and Judge, TA (2011). Essential elements of organizational behavior. Harlow England: Pearson Education Limited. Rothwell, D.J. (1999). In the company of others: an introduction to communication. New York: McGraw Hill. Smith, H. (1976). The Russians. New York, New York, USA: New York Balantine Books. Welte, K. and Kunishima, J. (2004). Effects of threats of punishment on social loafing. Journal of young researchers. Worchel, S., Rothgerber, H., Day, E., Hart, D. and Butemeyer, J. (1998). Social identity and individual productivity in groups. British Journal of Social Psychology, 37, 389-413. (p. 271). Zajonc, R.B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science , 269-274.