When people work together on a task (e.g., group project for class), they influence each other, making the group experience different from working alone in a number of ways. One important type of influence involves task motivation, or the amount of effort exerted to reach a goal. Because groups are frequently assembled to complete tasks, much research has been conducted to explore when and why groups affect their members' motivation.

After a brief review of research on group motivation, this entry summarizes some of the important lessons that have been learned and illustrates how these lessons can help us predict when working in a group will decrease effort (i.e., motivation losses) versus increase effort (i.e., motivation gains). Moreover, knowledge about group motivation can help us make ...

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