Question 1

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 example illustrates the phenomenon of social loafing, where individuals may put forth less effort or work less efficiently when in a group than when working alone. It is possible that individuals feel less accountable for their work when part of a group, leading to a decrease in performance.

Question 2

Group or team learning activities are becoming more common in the university setting and 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

Assigning individual grades can help mitigate social loafing by ensuring that each student is accountable for their contribution to the group work.

Question 3

In social loafing,why is an individual's performance on a task undertaken with others better on complex tasks than on simple tasks?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In social loafing,why is an individual's performance...

Question 4

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

Accepted Answer

Social loafing refers to the tendency to put forth less effort when working as part of a group compared to working alone. Out of the given options, Tim who is washing a car with his friends is most likely to engage in social loafing as the task can be divided among the group, leading individuals to feel less responsible for their contribution.

Question 5

A number of social psychologists have speculated on why the presence of others should lead to arousal.They have developed three explanatory theories.One is that arousal increases vigilance.Another is that arousal is distracting.Third,arousal

Accepted Answer

The presence of others can lead to arousal because it makes individuals apprehensive about how they are being evaluated by those around them. This is known as evaluation apprehension.

Question 6

From what you know of social loafing,if subjects were asked to solve either simple or complex computer mazes,and were told either that their individual performances would be evaluated,or that their scores would be averaged with other participants' scores.When participants thought their scores would be averaged with another's,their performance would be expected to be _______ because they _______.

Accepted Answer

The answer of From what you know of social loafing,if...

Question 7

The evaluation apprehension explanation for the source of arousal that produces social facilitation posits that _______ leads to increased arousal,and thus enhanced performance on simple tasks.

Accepted Answer

The evaluation apprehension explanation suggests that being in the presence of others who might judge us leads to increased arousal, which results in better performance on simple tasks.

Question 8

When Jeffrey Jackson and Kip Williams (1985)had participants solve either simple or difficult mazes,those who believed that their scores would be averaged with another person's performed better on difficult mazes than on simple mazes.These finding suggest that social loafing

Accepted Answer

Social loafing impairs performance on simple tasks but enhances performance on complex tasks, as individuals may exert more effort when they believe their performance will be averaged with others, especially on challenging tasks.

Question 9

Social loafing is most likely to occur when

Accepted Answer

Social loafing occurs more often in tasks that are perceived as low in importance or where individual contributions are not easily identifiable. In this case, stuffing envelopes for a large mailing is a task where individual contributions may not be as noticeable, making it more likely to lead to social loafing.

Question 10

Steven Karau and Kipling 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 the authors of your text?

Accepted Answer

According to the text, women are higher than men in relational interdependence, which means they place a higher value on relationships and the opinions of others. This could make them more motivated to work harder in group settings to avoid disappointing their peers or damaging their relationships. In contrast, men may be more focused on individual achievement and less concerned with the opinions or contributions of others, leading them to be more likely to engage in social loafing.

Question 11

Joint class projects,voting in elections,and singing in unison are all examples of group activities that are likely to be affected by

Accepted Answer

Social loafing refers to the tendency for individuals to put in less effort when working in a group compared to when working alone, which can affect group activities like joint projects, voting, and singing in unison.

Question 12

Which of the following explanations for social facilitation applies to humans but NOT to cockroaches?

Accepted Answer

Social facilitation refers to the tendency for people to perform differently when in the presence of others than when alone. The key difference between humans and cockroaches in this context is the concept of evaluation. Humans are unique in their capacity for complex social cognition, which includes the anticipation of being evaluated by others. This anticipation of evaluation can significantly influence human behavior, increasing arousal specifically in social contexts where evaluation is possible. Cockroaches, on the other hand, do not have the cognitive capabilities to anticipate or be concerned with evaluation by others, making this explanation specific to humans.

Question 13

_______ 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

Social loafing refers to the tendency of individuals to put in less effort on simple tasks when they are in a group and their individual performance is not evaluated.

Question 14

Many Asian cultures are collectivistic-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 stronger in Western cultures due to their emphasis on individual performance over group welfare. Collectivist cultures, which prioritize the group's needs, tend to have less social loafing.

Question 15

Robert Baron (1986)has found that flashing lights can cause the same social facilitation effects as the presence of other people.These findings support the idea that _______ is the source of arousal that enhances performance on simple tasks.

Accepted Answer

Distraction is the source of arousal that enhances performance on simple tasks, as it can increase alertness and energy, similar to the presence of other people.

Question 16

New Ph.D.'s who apply for jobs often report that they give better job talks in front of the hiring committee members whom they may never see again than they do during dress rehearsals for their supportive colleagues and professors before they leave for their interviews.These reports provide anecdotal evidence that

Accepted Answer

The reports suggest that the presence of others during job talks in front of the hiring committee members may enhance performance, but the same performance is not replicated during dress rehearsals in the presence of supportive colleagues and professors. This could be due to evaluation apprehension, which is the fear of being judged or evaluated by others. Since the hiring committee members are the people who will be making the decision about the Ph.D. applicant's job, the fear of being evaluated by them may lead to arousal, which, in turn, may enhance performance, thereby indicating social facilitation.

Question 17

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

Accepted Answer

Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone. This is because individuals may feel less accountable for their own performance when they are part of a group, and they may also be less motivated to perform well when they are not the only one responsible for the outcome. Social loafing is more likely to occur on simple tasks, where individuals may feel that their own contribution is less important, and less likely to occur on complex tasks, where individuals may feel that their own contribution is more important.

Question 18

If you wanted to determine whether evaluation apprehension or simple arousal accounts for social facilitation in humans,which of the following studies would you conduct?

Accepted Answer

The answer of If you wanted to determine whether evaluation...

Question 19

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

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that social loafing, the phenomenon where individuals exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone, is more prevalent in Western cultures compared to Asian cultures. This is attributed to the individualistic nature of Western societies, where personal achievement is often prioritized over group success. Additionally, studies have indicated that men are more likely to engage in social loafing than women, who tend to be more communal and cooperative in group settings.

Question 20

One explanation for why the presence of others leads to arousal is that in the presence of members of our own species,we become alert,vigilant,and mildly aroused.The beauty of this explanation is that it explains

Accepted Answer

This explanation accounts for increased arousal due to the presence of others, which has been observed in studies involving both humans and cockroaches, indicating a fundamental response across species.

Quiz 8: Group Processes