Free Rider

Free Rider is a term that was first coined in economics and refers to someone (a person or group) that benefits from something without contributing their fair share - similar to someone taking a bus ride for free, when everyone else has paid.

This concept has been transmitted into social psychology, as well as other humanistic psychology fields, to refer to the possibility that some individuals or groups that traditionally contribute to various causes, may cut their contributions if they feel that other individuals or organizations are benefiting more than they are contributing.