托福口语 Task 3

Social loafing is a phenomenon in which individuals exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone. This reduction in motivation often occurs because individuals feel their contributions are less identifiable or less critical to the overall outcome. Social loafing can lead to decreased group productivity and lower quality of work, especially when tasks are simple or when group members believe others will compensate for their lack of effort.

Professor: Let me give you an example from my own research. I asked a group of students to participate in a rope-pulling task. Each student was blindfolded and asked to pull a rope as hard as they could. First, I measured their individual pulling strength. Then, I told them they were part of a team and asked them to pull together, but I didn't tell them that the other team members were actually confederates who were not pulling. Interestingly, when the students believed they were pulling in a group, they pulled about 20% less hard than when they pulled alone. They later told me they felt less responsible for the outcome because they thought others would also pull. This clearly demonstrates social loafing in a physical task.