Question 1

All things being equal, ________ from ________ cultures would be most likely to engage in social loafing.

Accepted Answer

Social loafing, the phenomenon where individuals exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone, is more prevalent in Western cultures due to individualistic values. Men are generally more likely to engage in social loafing than women, making option B the correct choice.

Question 2

One reason why the presence of others is arousing is that it can be ________, which is a very cognitive explanation as to why people tend to perform worse at more difficult tasks in the presence of others.

Accepted Answer

The presence of others can be distracting, which can explain why people tend to perform worse at more difficult tasks when others are present.

Question 3

Professor Smith has long used group projects in her courses. The groups have always performed extraordinarily well, and students seem to learn a great deal from such projects. Having just taken a new job at a different college, Dr. Smith finds that the group projects are of considerably lower quality. What might you conclude given the work of Karau and Williams (1993)?

Accepted Answer

Karau and Williams (1993) found that men, more than women, tend to engage in social loafing in group settings, which could explain the lower quality of group projects at the new college if it is a men's college compared to a women's college.

Question 4

Both social facilitation and social loafing are examples of the influence that the presence of others has on our behaviors. These phenomena differ, however, in that presence of others ________ in social facilitation situations and ________ in social loafing situations.

Accepted Answer

In social facilitation situations, the presence of others increases arousal, leading to enhanced performance on simple or well-learned tasks. In contrast, in social loafing situations, the presence of others decreases arousal, leading to impaired performance on complex tasks.

Question 5

You are a project manager at your company, and you must choose the last member of your team. Which of the following people would be the least likely to social loaf?

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that people from collectivist cultures, such as Vietnam, are less likely to engage in social loafing as they prioritize the success of the group over their individual goals.

Question 6

The resident assistant of a campus residence hall notices that when a team of five students is assigned to bathroom duty, the bathrooms are not as well cleaned as when only one student is assigned to clean them. What phenomenon does this example illustrate?

Accepted Answer

This scenario illustrates social loafing, which occurs when individuals exert less effort when working in a group compared to when working alone. In this case, the presence of four other students may lead to a diffusion of responsibility, causing each individual to exert less effort in cleaning the bathroom.

Question 7

Social ________ refers to the tendency of people to do worse on simple tasks and better on complex tasks when they are in the presence of others and when their individual performance cannot be evaluated.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Social ________ refers to the tendency of...

Question 8

Researchers (Karau & Williams, 1993) reviewed more than 150 studies on social loafing, and found that the tendency to loaf is stronger in men than in women. Why is this true, according to work by Eagly (1987) and Wood (1987)?

Accepted Answer

Eagly (1987) and Wood (1987) found that women tend to be higher in relational interdependence than men, meaning that they are more likely to value social relationships and feel a sense of responsibility towards others. This may lead women to feel more motivated to work hard in group settings, as they do not want to let others down. In contrast, men are often encouraged to value individual achievement and competition, which may lead to a greater tendency to loaf in group settings.

Question 9

According to the authors of your text, which of the following factors can help to predict how likely a person is to social loaf?

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to the authors of your text,...

Question 10

Your roommate really detests studying in a quiet solitary space. Based on research presented in this chapter , what would you recommend your roommate do while studying for a difficult exam?

Accepted Answer

Research suggests that some people perform better on tasks that require concentration when there is a moderate level of ambient (background) noise. Having the TV on in the background with shows where none of the characters are known can provide the necessary level of ambient noise for your roommate to focus and study effectively without the distraction of recognizable characters. Watching TV shows or staring at a poster or desktop background will likely detract from studying and reduce academic success.

Question 11

Group or team learning activities are becoming more common in the university setting. That is, professors often assign students to work in groups. Given what you know about social loafing, what advice would you give a professor who is considering using group learning activities?

Accepted Answer

Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group compared to when working alone. This can be especially true for simple assignments where individual effort may not be necessary for success. Therefore, it is important for the professor to be aware of this potential issue and adjust their expectations for group assignments accordingly.

Question 12

In order to predict whether the presence of others will help or hinder performance, one needs two pieces of information: whether ________ and whether ________.

Accepted Answer

The presence of others can affect performance through social facilitation or social inhibition. The key factors are whether individual performance can be evaluated and the complexity of the task. Simple tasks are generally performed better in the presence of others, while complex tasks may suffer.

Question 13

Social loafing is likely to impair performance ________ and to enhance performance ________.

Accepted Answer

Social loafing tends to impair performance on simple tasks because individuals in a group may exert less effort, assuming others will pick up the slack. On complex tasks, the presence of others can enhance performance by distributing the workload and combining expertise.

Question 14

You are a member of a group of five people whose task it is to address and stuff 1,000 envelopes for mailing. Research on ________ suggests that it would be better to give each person 200 envelopes to address alone, whereas research on ________ suggests that it would be better to have everyone work on the task together in the same room.

Accepted Answer

The answer of You are a member of a group...

Question 15

Research illustrated that even the presence of a(n) ________ impacted performance such that participants did better on ________ tasks and worse on ________ tasks.

Accepted Answer

The presence of a favorite TV character impacted performance such that participants did better on simple tasks and worse on complex tasks. This is consistent with the concept of cognitive load, where having a cognitive distraction can hinder performance on complex tasks but not on simple tasks. Therefore, choice D is the best answer.

Question 16

Which of the following individuals is most likely to engage in social loafing?

Accepted Answer

Social loafing occurs when individuals exert less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone. Tim, who washes a car with his friends, is in a group setting where social loafing is more likely to occur.

Question 17

When a crowd of people clap or cheer, it is difficult to tell just how loud each individual is applauding or cheering. If people tend to clap louder when they are alone than when they are in a crowd, they are probably engaging in

Accepted Answer

Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to put forth less effort when they are part of a group compared to when they are working alone. Therefore, if people clap louder when they are alone than when they are in a crowd, it suggests that they are putting forth less effort in the group setting, which is a form of social loafing.

Question 18

Presently, there are three main ideas as to why the presence of others leads to greater arousal. Which of the following is not one of the three explanations? The presence of others

Accepted Answer

The three main ideas are that the presence of others makes us vigilant (A), is distracting (C), and leads to evaluation apprehension (D).

Question 19

Many Asian cultures are collectivistic; that is, they tend to place a greater emphasis on the welfare of the group than on the individual. Conversely, Western cultures tend to stress individual performance more than that of the group. A reasonable hypothesis would be that the social loafing effect is

Accepted Answer

Social loafing, the phenomenon where individuals exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone, is generally found to be stronger in Western cultures due to their emphasis on individual performance over group welfare. Collectivist cultures, which prioritize the group's success, tend to mitigate social loafing through stronger group cohesion and accountability.

Question 20

One reason why people may engage in social loafing in groups is that they feel

Accepted Answer

People may engage in social loafing in groups because they feel less noticeable, or like their individual effort will not be singled out or recognized. This can lead to reduced motivation to contribute and an increase in social loafing.

Quiz 9: Group Processes: Influence in Social Groups

All things being equal, from cultures would be most likely to engage in social loafing.

One reason why the presence of others is arousing is that it can be ________, which is a very cognitive explanation as to why people tend to perform worse at more difficult tasks in the presence of others.

Both social facilitation and social loafing are examples of the influence that the presence of others has on our behaviors. These phenomena differ, however, in that presence of others in social facilitation situations and in social loafing situations.