Understanding Social Loafing in Virtual Interactions within Discrepant Visibility Contexts: Conscious and Unconscious Influential Pathways

Abstract

With the rise of work-from-home arrangements and the increasing trend of work-from- anywhere, virtual team collaboration has become widespread. However, the persistent issue of social loafing continues to hinder the productivity of virtual teams, despite the advancements in technology. Social loafing refers to the tendency of individuals to exert less effort in a group setting compared with when working alone. In the context of virtual collaboration, where individuals have the flexibility to choose their level of virtual visibility using personal devices in personal settings, a new context emerges where high and low visibility coexist. This dissertation introduces the concept of discrepant visibility contexts, where individuals have varying levels of visibility within a group. While prior research has suggested that high visibility can mitigate social loafing in two-way visibility contexts, this dissertation challenges the assumption that visibility in a group is not always mutual or bidirectional and investigates the effects of discrepant visibility. Furthermore, recent evidence has shown that high visibility can also have negative consequences, adding complexity to the understanding of discrepant visibility.

Drawing upon the framework proposed by media naturalness theory, this study identified three key characteristics of discrepant visibility contexts and investigated the impact of discrepant visibility on social loafing from three distinct perspectives. The coexistence of high and low visibility in discrepant visibility contexts gives rise to a combination of high and low levels of (1) communication ambiguity, (2) physiological arousal, and (3) cognitive load, affecting the interaction dynamics between high and low visible participants. Accordingly, we conducted three studies focusing on each of the three main characteristics.

Study one discovered that within discrepant visibility contexts, individuals with varying levels of visibility display different types of social cues toward each other. Those with high visibility tend to share more abundant cues than those with low visibility, generating communication ambiguity among the group. Drawing from experiential learning theory, individuals interpret these cues and make heuristic judgments about each other, ultimately forming perceptions of dominance. Dominance perceptions, in turn, impact social loafing. By conducting a lab-in-the-field experiment and a field survey, this study offers valuable insights into the factors that contribute to social loafing in discrepant visibility contexts.

Study two identified that within discrepant visibility contexts, individuals with varying levels of visibility take different contribution patterns due to their different self- exposure levels and impression management motivations. Based on impression management theory, this paper identified the dual contribution modes in the discrepant visibility context and unraveled the different contribution patterns of high- and low- visible participants, and in turn, social loafing. Online lab experimental results showed that high visibility enables more intuitive and compliant contribution (i.e., emotional support provision), especially for introverts. In contrast, low visibility enables more in- depth and evaluative contribution (i.e., deliberate feedback delivery), only for experts. The findings of this study offer valuable insights for interventions aimed at addressing social loafing in virtual interactions, highlighting the importance of matching individuals with appropriate self-exposure levels for enhanced performance.

Study three examined the unintentional occurrence of social loafing in virtual interactions due to the distracting nature of virtual visibility. While self-attention has been shown to reduce social loafing, the darker aspects of videoconferencing suggest a more complex relationship with self-attention. Grounded in self-objectification and self-regulation theories, we investigate the interplay between camera usage and task difficulty on cognitive and emotional self-regulation, and subsequently, on social loafing in discrepant visibility contexts. Experimental results confirm that camera-on attendees experience low cognitive and emotional regulation under low task difficulty, leading to increased social loafing, particularly among females who are socioculturally sensitive to self-objectification. This study provides critical theoretical implications for research on social loafing and virtual meetings and practical recommendations for aligning camera features with meeting tasks and individual differences in virtual meetings.

Date of Award	11 Aug 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Hefu Liu (External Supervisor) & Kwok On Matthew LEE (Supervisor)