Group Work in the Classroom: A Cross-Cultural Study of Instructor Awareness and Compensation for
Social Loafing in University Learning Groups in Japan and the United States
Abstract
The use of groups of people to accomplish goals (or tasks) is prevalent in society and they exist in
business situations, social or religious gatherings, in sports and, of course, in classrooms. What makes groups work
effectively? This study reviews factors that both promote as well as obstruct effective group performance, and it
focuses on one of the many factors that hinder a group’s ability to perform as best it can: social loafing. “Social
loafing” is the phenomenon of individuals in group situations doing less work, putting in less effort or expending
less energy on the group project than they would if they did the work alone. It is common in many different
situations and research has shown that it transcends cultures. This study looked at the problem from the instructor’s
point of view and measured the level of instructor awareness of social loafing in university classroom groups in
both Japan and the United States. It hypothesized that instructors are unaware of several ways of diminishing
social loafing in student groups. It also asked what, if any, preventative steps instructors take to diminish social
loafing in student groups? Results showed that the vast majority of instructors on both sides of the Pacific are
aware of the concepts of social loafing and free-riding. Furthermore, results support the notion that instructors
should be more aware of more techniques to curb loafing and that Japanese instructors tend to take a less active
role in curbing social loafing than their American counterparts. Suggestions on how teachers can curb loafing and
then suggestions for research are given.
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Convention