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Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, Vol. 9, No. 3, 431-442 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1368430206064643
© 2006 SAGE Publications

Social Compensation: Fact or Social-Comparison Artifact?

Andrew R. Todd

Northwestern University

Dong-Heon Seok

Norbert L. Kerr

Lawrence A. Messé

Michigan State University

The use of coactors as non-group controls in prior social compensation research has left open the possibility that the effect might artifactually have resulted from a confound between work condition (Coaction vs. Collective) and the opportunity to make performance comparisons. A direct empirical test of this alternative, artifactual explanation is reported. Its results contradict that explanation and suggest that the use of coactors as controls has, if anything, resulted in an underestimation of the magnitude of the social compensation effect. It is argued that multiple alternative non-group performance baselines can be informative for analyzing group motivation effects.

Key Words: group performance • motivation gains • social compensation • social loafing

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This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
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Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
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Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
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Right arrow Articles by Todd, A. R.
Right arrow Articles by Messé, L. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
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What's this?