Pay tied to a partner's work got online workers to do more, and sooner
Who it’s about: Adults, Workers
- HelpedProcrastination
Workers paid on their pair's shared work did more tasks on day one than workers paid for their own tasks.
- Action: Team up on a shared goaltested
- Rule: Do it with a partner or teamtested
- Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing itused
Randomised trial of 597 online workers in the US · vs workers paid only for their own tasks · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ summary claims more than the results show
- HelpedProcrastination
Workers who raced a partner for a bonus did more tasks on day one than workers paid alone.
- Rule: Compete or compare with otherstested
- Rule: Do it with a partner or teamtested
- Action: Team up on a shared goalused
- Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing itused
Randomised trial of 597 online workers in the US · vs workers paid only for their own tasks · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ summary claims more than the results show
- No differenceProcrastination
Showing partners' work did not change day-one work, but no one saw a partner's work until day two.
- Rule: Get feedback on your progresstested
- Action: Team up on a shared goalused
- Rule: Do it with a partner or teamused
Randomised trial of 597 online workers in the US · vs the same team pay without seeing the partner's work · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ summary claims more than the results show
- HelpedGoals
Workers paid on their pair's shared work did about 21 percent more tasks in all than those paid alone.
- Action: Team up on a shared goaltested
- Rule: Do it with a partner or teamtested
- Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing itused
Randomised trial of 597 online workers in the US · vs workers paid only for their own tasks · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ summary claims more than the results show
- No differenceGoals
Racing a partner for a bonus did not clearly raise total work over three days, against plain pay per task.
- Rule: Compete or compare with otherstested
- Rule: Do it with a partner or teamtested
- Action: Team up on a shared goalused
- Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing itused
Randomised trial of 597 online workers in the US · vs workers paid only for their own tasks · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ summary claims more than the results show
The study
Who took part
597 people in the US who did small paid tasks online through Amazon Mechanical Turk. They passed a short quiz on the rules and did at least one task, and they weren't picked for putting things off.
What they did
Over three days, people typed short strings of letters for up to 45 minutes in total, spread however they liked. One group was paid for each of their own tasks. A team group was paid on the average work of the pair. A contest group got a bonus for beating their partner. Two more groups also saw their partner's earlier work.
What happened
The team group did about 21 percent more tasks in total than the solo group, and more of them on day one. It was also about 18 in 100 more likely to use all 45 minutes. The contest group did more on day one, but its total was not clearly higher. The paper says team pay beat contest pay, but the gap between them was not clear.
Source
From me to we: Beating procrastination in teams (2025)
DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2025.106900 (opens in a new tab)Tools in this study
Action3
Team up on a shared goalPair with another person so your results or rewards depend on each other's output.
Rule · how5
Get a reward or payment for doing itIncentives, prizes, lotteries or points for doing it.
