Organizational studies traditionally take the position that the more people involved in group decision making the more ideas will be generated. Recent studies demonstrate that people have a tendency to "loaf" in group situations and thus decrease the level of effort exerted by individual group members. This paper first reviews the literature on social loafing and then analyzes the results of a longitudinal study which used brainstorming tasks. Subjects, 31 students in a small group communication course at a large midwestern university, were given individual and group brainstorming activities to complete 4 times during an 8-week period. Results indicated that subjects contributed fewer ideas in a group brainstorming activity in comparison to an individual effort on a similar task. Also, social loafing appears to occur over an extended period of time. Findings show that social loafing does appear in communication contexts and thus suggest the communicative relevance of social loafing for organizational research. (Three tables are included, and 31 references are appended.) (MS)