Social Loafing and Social Facilitation
Kitty GenoveseIf you’re not
already aware of Wikipedia then check it out, it’s an encylopedia written by
the people for the people. It’s articles are concise, interlinked and, in the
most part, very illuminating.
On my ‘Wiki-hunt’ of the
psychology section of Wikipedia I came across many interesting articles. One
tells the gruesome story of the murder of Kitty Genovese (left – illustration
by Bill Rose). I’ll let you read the story there, but it does highlight what
psychologists call ‘social loafing’. This is the idea that people in groups
tend to assume that someone else will take any required action. The media
suggestion at the time of this case, while controversial, was that some people
who heard her screams failed to intervene.
We are now very familiar with
this from many TV programmes that use it for comic effect. Hidden camera shows
will stage a fight or an outburst of some kind in a public place. Unaware they
are being watched, people will usually gawp at the manufactured scene, but very
rarely intervene.
A related idea, succinctly
described on changingminds.org, is that of social facilitation. When people are
watched carrying out a task that they find easy, their performance improves. In
contrast, when watched carrying out a task they find difficult, their
performance declines.
About
the author
Psychologist, Jeremy Dean, PhD
is the founder and author of PsyBlog. He holds a doctorate in psychology from
University College London and two other advanced degrees in psychology.
He has been writing about
scientific research on PsyBlog since 2004. He is also the author of the book
“Making Habits, Breaking Habits” (Da Capo, 2003) and several ebooks.
Social loafing and social
facilitation are two examples of how the mere presence or absence of other
people can have unusual effects on our behaviour.
SOURCE:
PSYBLOG
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