Are you a social facilitator or loafer?

While working in a group, you may observe two types of people. You might see someone taking the leadership. Few of them might discuss vigorously and put forth various ideas. They may work hard to make it a success. Meanwhile you might see a few disinterested ones: Not paying attention, being distracted by something else. They may not take up initiatives to do stuff and may not put in much effort.

This leads to irregular division of work with some putting in a lot of effort whereas others failing to do so.

But you may come to notice that those who seem to put so much effort in the presence of others may not do so when alone. They can not concentrate when alone or may not be motivated enough. On the other hand, those who do not contribute much in a group, may actually work way better when they are alone. People may tend to loaf off of others when in a group as they may have the belief that others can complete the project.

The former case is known as “Social Facilitation”. It is a phenomenon in which the presence of others improves an individual’s performance. In this, people perform better when they are with others rather than when they are alone. A musician performs better when there is an audience cheering him/her on.

The latter case is called “Social Loafing”. It is a phenomenon in which a person exerts less effort, in comparison to others, when they work in a group than when working alone.

To reduce this phenomenon, it is necessary to divide the work among the members. Fair and equal division of work may help increase the responsibility in an individual. Thus preventing social loafing.

Social facilitation can help improve your performance. Knowing yourself can help you find many more such techniques to perform better. Study groups, performing in front of a group etc may help you achieve your goal better.

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash