Working Harder or Hardly Working? Posting Performance Eliminates Social Loafing and Promotes Social Laboring in Workgroups

Robert B. Lount () and Steffanie L. Wilk ()
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Robert B. Lount: Department of Management and Human Resources, Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210
Steffanie L. Wilk: Department of Management and Human Resources, Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210

Management Science, 2014, vol. 60, issue 5, 1098-1106

Abstract: The current paper examines how posting performance---an act that triggers increased social comparisons between workers---influences employees' motivation when working in groups. In the study, posting employee performance moderated the relationship between groupwork and employee motivation. When individual performance was publicly posted in the workplace, employees working in a group performed better than when working alone (i.e., social laboring); however, when individual performance was not posted, employees working in a group performed worse than when working alone (i.e., social loafing). The findings shed light on how social comparisons can have positive implications for employee performance in groups. This paper was accepted by Jesper Sørensen, organizations .

Keywords: organizational studies; effectiveness performance; motivation; productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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