People exert less effort in groups than when working individually.
Latané, Williams and Harkins's 1979 studies of clapping and shouting. It is the modern experimental treatment of Ringelmann, isolating motivation loss from coordination loss.
In practice
- A choir where no voice can be picked out sings quieter per person than a quartet, and every singer believes they are giving full voice.
- A group assignment where individual contribution is invisible produces less total work than the same people working separately.
- Standing
- The modern experimental treatment of the Ringelmann effect.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Psychology & Behavior
- Essay
- A century and a half of measuring the mind