Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2011 Social Loafing and Free Riding in Online Learning Groups Sherry L. Piezon Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SOCIAL LOAFING AND FREE RIDING IN ONLINE LEARNING GROUPS By SHERRY L. PIEZON A Dissertation submitted to the School of Library and Information Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2011 Copyright © 2011 Sherry L. Piezon All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Sherry L. Piezon defended on March 30, 2011. ______________________________ Gary Burnett Professor Directing Dissertation ______________________________ Allan Jeong University Representative __________________________________ Ian Douglas Committee Member ______________________________ Paul Marty Committee Member Approved: _________________________________________________________________ Corinne Jörgensen, Director, School of Library and Information Studies ________________________________________________________________ Lawrence C. Dennis, Dean, School of Library and Information Studies The Graduate School has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this doctoral degree and dissertation would not have been possible without the help and support of all the people who touch my life daily. First, I would like to acknowledge and thank the members of my doctoral committee for their efforts on my behalf. I would like to thank Dr. Gary Burnett, my major professor and mentor. His advice and the countless hours he spent reviewing and editing my drafts are greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank Dr. Ian Douglas, Dr. Paul Marty and Dr. Allan Jeong for their thoughtful attention to my research and for their advice and encouragement throughout my doctoral experience. I also want to thank my friends, family, and co-workers for their never-ending understanding and patience throughout this long process. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. William D. Ferree, professor at the Naval War College, for helping me gain access and understanding into the lives of those dedicated professionals who attend and instruct at the Naval War College. Without his help, this research would have never been possible. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. viii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. IX CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 PROBLEM STATEMENT ................................................................................................................. 1 IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH ......................................................................................................... 2 SOCIAL LOAFING: THEORY ANALYSIS AND FUTURE EXPECTATIONS ........................................... 3 What Contexts Remain to be Explored? ................................................................................. 3 RESEARCH GOALS AND OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................. 7 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL LOAFING ........................................................................................... 7 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................... 8 Ringelmann’s Theory .............................................................................................................. 8 SOCIAL LOAFING PROPOSITIONS ................................................................................................ 10 First Things First .................................................................................................................. 10 SOCIAL LOAFING ANTECEDENTS AND THEIR PROPOSITIONS ..................................................... 11 Procedural and distributive justice .................................................................................... 12 Task interdependence........................................................................................................ 13 Group size ......................................................................................................................... 13 Group cohesiveness .......................................................................................................... 15 Task visibility.................................................................................................................... 15 INDIVIDUAL PERCEPTIONS ......................................................................................................... 16 Learner Perceptions and Social Behaviors .......................................................................... 16 Dominance and aggression ............................................................................................... 17 SOCIAL FACILITATION THEORY ................................................................................................. 18 RESEARCH BETWEEN 1900 AND 1910 ........................................................................................ 19 RESEARCH BETWEEN 1920 AND 1940 ........................................................................................ 19 RESEARCH POST 1960 ................................................................................................................ 21 Drive theory ...................................................................................................................... 22 Mere presence ................................................................................................................... 22 Evaluation apprehension ................................................................................................... 23 Monitoring ........................................................................................................................ 23 Distraction ......................................................................................................................... 24 Self-Theories ......................................................................................................................... 24 Self-attention ..................................................................................................................... 24 Self-efficacy ...................................................................................................................... 25 Diffusion of Social Facilitation Theories .............................................................................. 25 RELATED RESEARCH OUTSIDE THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ............................................................... 25 Library and Information Studies ........................................................................................... 26 Human information behavior ............................................................................................ 26 Online Learning, CMC, and Humanities Research .............................................................. 30 Game Theory ......................................................................................................................... 32 iv CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY............................................................................................ 34 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................. 34 OVERVIEW OF PAST RESEARCH METHODS ................................................................................ 36 Limitations and Strengths of Laboratory Experiments ......................................................... 37 SELECTING A RESEARCH METHOD ............................................................................................. 38 MIXED METHODS ....................................................................................................................... 39 Quantitative Method ............................................................................................................. 39 Social loafing surveys ....................................................................................................... 40 Participants ........................................................................................................................ 40 Procedure .......................................................................................................................... 40 Perceived group member loafing ...................................................................................... 40 Perceived individual loafing ............................................................................................. 41 Task visibility.................................................................................................................... 42 Contribution ...................................................................................................................... 44 Distributive justice