TOEFL Speaking 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 individual contributions become less identifiable in a group setting, reducing personal accountability. Researchers have found that social loafing can undermine group productivity and morale. However, the effect can be minimized when tasks are engaging, when group members feel their efforts are essential, or when individual performance is made visible and evaluated.

Professor: Let me give you an example from my own experience. I once asked my students to work on a class project in groups of four. Each group had to produce a single written report on a historical topic. To my surprise, the quality of the reports was quite poor, and some students clearly did very little work. One student, Tom, told me later that he didn't feel his individual contribution mattered much because the group grade was the same for everyone. He said he just let others do most of the work. This is a classic case of social loafing. However, the next semester, I changed the assignment. I made each group member responsible for a specific section of the report, and I required them to write their names next to their sections. I also had each student present their own section to the class. The quality of the work improved dramatically. Students felt more accountable because their individual efforts were visible and evaluated. So, by making individual contributions identifiable, I reduced social loafing.