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, leading to a diffusion of responsibility. Researchers have found that social loafing can reduce overall group productivity, especially in tasks where each member's input is combined without clear evaluation. However, the effect can be minimized when tasks are challenging, engaging, or when individual performance is made visible and accountable.

Professor: Let me give you an example from a study conducted at my university. We asked students to participate in a rope-pulling task. When they pulled alone, they exerted an average of 85 kilograms of force. But when they pulled as part of a four-person group, the average force dropped to 65 kilograms per person. Interestingly, when we made each person’s contribution visible by attaching a small light to each rope that lit up according to their individual effort, the group performance jumped back to near individual levels. This shows that when people know their individual effort is being monitored, they are less likely to slack off. So, in real-world settings like team projects at work, making each member’s contribution transparent can reduce social loafing.