An investigation of social loafing and social compensation in computer-supported cooperative work

Authors:
Andy McKinlay;Rob Procter;Anne Dunnett
Affiliations:
Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, Scotland;Institute for Communicating and Collaborative Systems, University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, Scotland;Department of Education, University of Edinburgh, Old Moray House, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AQ, Scotland
Venue:
GROUP '99 Proceedings of the international ACM SIGGROUP conference on Supporting group work
Year:
1999

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Abstract

The effects of computer-mediated communication on social loafing in brainstorming tasks and social compensation in decision-making tasks are examined. In the first experiment, subjects performed a brainstorming task in either nominal, face-to-face or computer-mediated brainstorming group conditions. Production blocking, in which brainstorming group members interfere with each other's output, was minimised, but the nominal group still out-performed the other groups. In the second experiment, subjects performed a group decision task in face-to-face and computer mediated communication conditions. Social compensation in the presence of social loafing was seen to occur in the first condition, but not in the second. The paper concludes by discussing some of the consequences of both experiments for the future role of computer-mediated communication in group work.