Abstract:
This study investigated the effects of punishment threats and rewards on individual performance and group performance of social loafing. Forty students (20 male and 20 females) of Kings’ and Queens’ Comprehensive High School Enugu with a mean age of 14.26 years participated in the study. The materials used were 3200 paper tiles (with a package of 160 paper tiles distributed to each participant). Social loafing was measured and scored according to the number of tiles a participant was unable to fix out of the package of tiles given to him or her; the higher the score the more the loafing. The data were subjected to MANOVA and results indicated a significant main effect of punishment threat on group performance and rewards on both individual and group performance task. There was no significant interaction effect of punishment threat and reward on social loafing (individual and group performance). The implications of the findings were discussed and suggestion for further studies made.
