Social Loafing and Expectancy-Value Theory — Pers Soc Psychol Bull

July 16, 2010 Sorin Adam Matei

How do we predict social behavior on social media? Shepperd and Taylor propose Expectancy Theory… The paper is also interesting for the connection it makes between group and personal expectations. I wonder, however, if the authors thought through the consequence of no social loafing on social media sites. Such sites need both producers and consumers, both actors and audiences.

Expectancy value theory holds that goal-directed behavior is a function of (a) expectations—the belief that performance depends on effort, (b) instrumentality—the belief that outcome depends on performance, and (c) outcome value—the value attached to achieving the outcome. The present research provides a direct test of two factors involved in the instrumentality component: the contingency between individual performance and group performance and the contingency between group performance and group outcome. Experiment 1 revealed that collective participants worked hard when they perceived a contingency between individual performance and group performance. Experiment 2 revealed that collective participants worked hard when they perceived a contingency between group performance and the group outcome. Taken together, the results confirm the importance of high instrumentality in eliminating social loafing.

via Social Loafing and Expectancy-Value Theory — Pers Soc Psychol Bull.