<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Ringelmann effect is the tendency for individual members of a group to become increasingly less productive as the size of their group increases . This effect, discovered by French agricultural engineer Maximilien Ringelmann (1861--1931), illustrates the inverse relationship that exists between the size of a group and the magnitude of group members' individual contribution to the completion of a task . While studying the relationship between process loss (i.e., reductions in performance effectiveness or efficiency) and group productivity, Ringelmann (1913) found that having group members work together on a task (e.g., pulling a rope) actually results in significantly less effort than when individual members are acting alone . Furthermore, Ringelmann discovered that as more and more people are added to a group, the group often becomes increasingly inefficient, ultimately violating the notion that group effort and team participation reliably leads to increased effort on behalf of the members . </P> <P> According to Ringelmann (1913), groups fail to reach their full potential because various interpersonal processes detract from the group's overall proficiency . Namely, two distinct processes have been identified as potential sources for the reduced productivity of groups: loss of motivation, and coordination problems . </P>

The tendency for individual effort to decline as group size increases refers to