托福口语 Task 3

Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone. This phenomenon occurs because people feel less accountable for the outcome and believe their contribution is less identifiable. Social loafing can reduce overall group productivity and is more likely in large groups where individual performance is not easily monitored. Researchers have studied this effect in various settings, including workplaces and classrooms, to understand how to minimize its negative impact.

Professor: Let me give you a classic example from a study. Researchers asked participants to pull a rope attached to a gauge that measured force. When participants pulled alone, they exerted an average of 100 units of force. But when they pulled in groups of three, each person’s force dropped to about 80 units. In groups of six, it fell to about 65 units per person. The participants didn’t realize they were slacking—they just felt less pressure because others were also pulling. Interestingly, when the researchers made each person’s contribution visible by having them pull in a device where the rope was divided, effort levels returned to near the individual baseline. This shows that social loafing happens when people think their effort is hidden, and it can be reduced when individual output is made identifiable.