Although it is often assumed that team member's tendency to social loaf
is detrimental to team performance, I propose that this relationship is
not always negative. Drawing from theories on social loafing, social
compensation, and trait activation, I propose that both the level of
conscientiousness and agreeableness in teams could compensate for social
loafing tendencies, in terms of team performance. In a study among
newly formed student teams (N = 209 teams; n = 644 persons) working on a
complex task that exceeded their current skill level, I found support
for this idea. Consistent with predictions, social loafing tendencies
were positively related to team performance when the level of
conscientiousness was high rather than low. A significant 3-way
interaction between social loafing tendencies, conscientiousness, and
agreeableness in predicting team performance indicated that especially
if there is a high degree of conscientiousness and agreeableness within
the team, team members will compensate for social loafing tendencies,
and performance will stay up to par. If there is little tendency to
social loaf, the level of conscientiousness becomes less important,
while agreeableness stays important for team performance. Given the
extensive use of team projects in business schools, the implications of
these findings are discussed.