Social Psychology of Sport 1. Group Cohesion

1. Social Psychology of Sport 1. Group Cohesion 1.2 Social Loafing

2. So, what is Social Loafing? • The tendency of individuals to put less effort into tasks when they are part of a group. • All members of the group are pooling their effort to achieve a common goal- Each member of the group contributes less than they would if they were individually responsible • Imagine that your teacher assigned you to work on a class project with a group of ten other students. • If you were working on your own, you would have broken down the assignment into steps and hopefully started it • Since you are part of a group, however, the social loafing tendency makes it likely that you would put less effort into it • Instead of assuming responsibility for certain tasks, you might simply assume that one of the other group members will take care of it

3. Sound familiar? • What is this similar to? • Bystander effect ~ Latane!

4. Ringlemann • Rope Pulling: • As you add more and more people to a group pulling on a rope, the total force exerted by the group rose, but the average force exerted by each group member declined. • Problem may not be the reduction of individual effort, but poor coordination between members of the group • Example: People may pull the rope in different directions at different times, so the group does not use the efforts of each individual member of the group. • Alternative explanation must be eliminated

5. What you would expect to see….and what you would actually see

6. Key Study Latane et al ~ Many hands make light work • Wanted to replicate Ringlemanns work theoretically • 8 occasions, 6 undergrad males asked to help researcher judge how much noise people make in social situations • Cheering and applause • How loud they seem to those who hear them • Asked to • Clap or cheer as loudly as possible for 5 secs • Judge noises • Both performers AND observers were asked to guess how much noise was produced • 36 trials of yelling in pairs and groups of 4 and 6 • 36 trials of clapping • general radio sound level meter was placed 4m from each performer

7. Latane et al Results • Noise produced did not grow in proportion to the number of people • Average sound pressure generated decreased with increasing group size (p<0.001) • 2 person groups performed at only 71% of their individual capacity • 4 person groups at 51% • 6 person groups at 40%

8. Latane et al Discussion • Appears that when it comes to clapping many hands do, in fact, make light work • Ringlemann’s findings were replicated using a different task in a different culture • Link to: • Social loafing?? • Faulty social processes?? As group size increases, number of co-ordination links increases • According to Steiner (1972), coordination problems between group members are a function of the demands of the tasks to be performed • How to answer these questions??? • Another experiment!!

9. Latane et al Experiment 2! • Co-ordination loss or reduced effort? • 6 more groups of 6 male undergrads • Aim = remove the ‘non reduced effort’ factors • Told exp about sensory feedback NOT judgements • Blindfolded and used headsets ~ told room was soundproofed

10. Experiment 2 Results and Discussion • Despite the social factors (co-ordination) being removed (lost) … • …and despite in exp 1 p’s applauded with all the excitement, embarrassment and conformity that go with such a situation…. • …. The 2 studies produced similar results • ….. Suggesting that social loafing is in fact a robust phenomenon

11. Application • Why would social loafing be something to consider in a sport psychology role? • Why do YOU think it occurs? • Loss of co-ordination? • Reduced effort? Discuss these points in your groups…

12. Class Demonstration • We do a lot of thought showers etc… • Group sizes vary: • 2, 4, 8, 12! • Prediction: • Total group output should increased with increasing group size. • Number of ideas generated per person should decrease with increasing group size.

13. POTENTIALLY…..Increasing Group Size, Increasing Group Output

14. …But Decreasing Individual Input

15. Social Loafing? • So…. Do you limit your contribution to the group discussion? Why or why not? • Were there people who contributed more ideas than others? • Was there some expectation or goal for how many ideas you should personally contribute to the group? • Are there alternative explanations other than social loafing?

16. Evaluation Apprehension • Do you limit your contributions to the group discussion because you are worried that people would judge your ideas? OR, • Do you limit your contribution to the group discussion because you felt that no one was paying any attention to how much you were contributing? OR, • Something else????