Extrinsic and Intrinsic Origins of Perceived Social Loafing in Organizations

Abstract

It was hypothesized and found that task visibility and intrinsic task involvement would each be negatively associated with “social loafing” in an ongoing organization. Individuals engaged in social loafing put forth low effort when performing work in groups. Intrinsic involvement was not a significant predictor of social loafing when task visibility was controlled. However, as hypothesized, intrinsic involvement moderated the relationship between task visibility and social loafing in such a way that the relationship was strongest when intrinsic involvement was low.