Abstract

An interesting stream of research, which is growing in popularity, attempts to understand the role of social loafing in the successful outcome of group work. The purpose of this thesis was to contribute to this stream of research by exploring the relationship between perceptions of a peer evaluation system and social loafing behaviours. The peer evaluation system was measured in two ways; both the team member’s level of awareness of the system and his or her level of perceived importance of the system. This thesis also examined one personality trait in particular; self-monitoring orientation. Through a study conducted among 394 undergraduate students who used the peer evaluation system, results revealed that both a student’s level of evaluation awareness and level of perceived importance of the system were unrelated to his or her work quality. Self-monitoring did not have any effect on the relationship between any of the main variables. The correlational design, subject group and certain external factors are some of the limitations in the study. More extensive research effort is called for to distinguish the different effects and consequences of perceptions of peer evaluations.