Asymmetrical effects of rewards and punishments: The case of social loafing

An assumption in the social loafing literature is that contingent rewards and contingent punishments have symmetrical effects on the reduction of social loafing in groups. Literature is reviewed from several areas of psychology and organizational behaviour which suggests that rewards and punishments do not have symmetrical effects on individuals and their behaviours. Based upon this review, hypotheses are developed concerning the relationship between supervisor reward and punishment behaviour and social loafing in groups. These hypotheses were tested among a sample of 448 salespeople working in groups ranging in size from four to 10 members. As hypothesized, supervisor contingent reward was negatively associated, and supervisor non-contingent punishment was positively associated with social loafing in ongoing groups. Also as expected, neither supervisor contingent punishment nor non-contingent reward was significantly associated with social loafing. The implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.