Examining Social Loafing among Elite Female Rowers as a Function of Task Duration and Mood

The purpose of this study was to examine evidence of social loafing in elite female rowers when performing a simulation rowing task under alone and group conditions for durations of one-stroke, 1.5-min. and 10-min. Performance was measured as distance travelled (kilometers). A secondary purpose of the study was to ascertain evidence of concomitant changes in mood using the Profile of Mood States inventory. Paired t-tests, comparing performance between each condition (alone and group), indicated an absence of loafing for all alone task durations and for the one-stroke and 1.5-min. group tasks. However, a loafing effect was found in the 10-min. group task. For affect, fatigue decreased only for the 10-min. group condition. Vigor, on the other hand, markedly decreased for all three group tasks, whereas vigor significantly increased for all three individual tasks. No other marked changes in mood scores were detected. It was concluded that social loafing may be partially dependent on motor task duration, with concomitant changes in selected mood states.