Effects Of Punishment Threats And Reward On Social Loafing.

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effects of punishment threats and

rewards on individual performance and group performance of

social loafing. Forty students (20 male and 20 females) of Kings’

and Queens’ Comprehensive High School Enugu with a mean age

of 14.26 years participated in the study. The materials used were

3200 paper tiles (with a package of 160 paper tiles distributed to

each participant). Social loafing was measured and scored

according to the number of tiles a participant was unable to fix out

of the package of tiles given to him or her; the higher the score

the more the loafing. The data were subjected to MANOVA and

results indicated a significant main effect of punishment threat on

group performance and rewards on both individual and group

performance task. There was no significant interaction effect of

punishment threat and reward on social loafing (individual and

group performance). The implications of the findings were

discussed and suggestions for further studies made.