This study sought to explore the perceptions of social loafing held by post-graduate university students within a group work context. The study aimed to advance understanding of how such perceptions can impact group work endeavours. Specifically, the key tenets that guided the study were whether or not the participants had experienced the phenomenon of social loafing through the duration of their university careers; how prevalent it was; how the encounter had shaped their views on group work; how it impacted their motivational levels; whether they had personally engaged in social loafing or not; as well as how they dealt with social loafers within their groups. This purely qualitative study employed a phenomenological lens in deriving exploratory information from a purposive sample (eight post-graduate students enrolled in the University of Pretoria's Human Resource Management Department). The findings from the research illustrate that the whole sample had experienced social loafing within a group work context. What differed, were the subjective interpretations of the phenomenon held by the students. Students were readily able to provide specific examples and instances where they had been exposed to loafing by a peer or where they, themselves, had loafed. Students' applied various mechanisms to deal with loafers within their work groups, namely, direct confrontation; eliminating perceived loafers from in-group selection from the onset; peer review or evaluations/appraisals; as well complete conflict avoidance through no action at all. The presence of a loafer created feelings of frustration amongst most of the students. The phenomenon itself was more likely to occur when there was a lack of incentive or evaluation, disinterest in the topic or limited knowledge of the work content. Further, the larger the group size, the greater the likelihood of a loafer being present. From these findings it is evident that social loafing is common and leaves a lasting impression on those that have been exposed or engaged in the phenomenon. Recommendations include: the optimal size for a group work task be ideally set at 4 to 5 people; group work activities should have clearly defined goals and objectives; clear means of evaluation must exist to ensure that each group member's contribution can be appraised; prior exposure to the content of the task is important and group work should not take place before modular assessment; lecturers need to take on an active role in mitigating against loafing; realistic time frames for group task completion must be present; and increased focus on educating students on how to be constructive group members should be considered as part of a best practice group work approach. / Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

Background: Especially important in the transition process is the role of the providers and parents shifting from that of a manager of health to more of a coach. In group work, as in healthcare management, there is the opportunity for social loafing to occur, which could impede one’s competence in performing the desired task. Social loafing is the reduction in motivation and effort when individuals work collectively compared with when they work individually. Specific to social loafing is the free rider effect —when a person lacks putting forth effort because they believe someone else will pick up the slack which has been demonstrated in parent-child and student-teacher relationships. Objective: In this study we examined the prevalence of social loafing as defined by whether youth report that they know how to perform specific transition readiness skills but report that others do the tasks for them (as opposed to doing it themselves). Design/Methods: We surveyed 161 youth from two different schools in South Central Appalachia about their transition readiness using anchors from the TRAQ with revised response categories. The response categories assessed 1) whether they know how to do the specific task or not and 2) whether youth perform the task themselves or if someone else does the task for them. Results: We were specifically interested in those who responded “No, someone else does it but I know how”. Of the 21 items on the TRAQ, the rate of endorsement of the “social loafing” response varied between 11% and 53%. For 14 of the 21 items, the rate of endorsement of the “social loafing” response was greater than 30%. Table 1 displays the rate of endorsement of the social loafing response for each TRAQ item. Conclusion(s): Our results demonstrate that although many youth “know” how to perform various transition related tasks, very frequently they allow someone else to perform the task for them. In order for transition to adulthood to be successful, youth should be challenged to accept responsibility for performing task with the support of adults—called scaffolding. This will enhance the youth’s competence and autonomy. Similarly, in healthcare settings, clinicians can implement a scaffolding approach to reduce social loafing and promote more autonomy and gain competence in managing their health.