Effects of social loafing, collective orientation, and self-efficacy on adolescents cognitive task performance

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of social loafing, collective orientation, and self-efficacy on adolescent’s cognitive task performance. Eighty students (40 male and 40 females) of Community Secondary School Ugbene-Ajima in Uzo-Uwani (Mean age = 16.88 years, SD = .98) participated in the study. Two questionnaire measures were used in this study: Collective Orientation Scale and New General Self-efficacy Scale (NGSES). Social loafing was manipulated with instructions. Participants worked on a puzzle for 10 minutes after which completed pieces were counted as the measure of cognitive effort. The data were subjected to three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results indicated a significant main effect of social loafing on cognitive task performance, such that the non-social loafing group had better performance in cognitive tasks than the social loafing group. There was no main effect of collective orientation on cognitive task performance. It was further shown that self-efficacy had a significant main effect on cognitive task performance, indicating that participants with high self-efficacy had better performance in cognitive tasks than those with low self-efficacy. It was suggested that efforts to curb social loafing and improve self-efficacy of students may facilitate better performance in intellectual tasks among students.