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 individual contributions become less identifiable in a group setting, leading to a diffusion of responsibility. Researchers have found that social loafing is more likely to occur when tasks are simple or when group members believe their own efforts will not significantly affect the outcome. However, when tasks are challenging or when individual performance is clearly evaluated, social loafing tends to decrease.

Professor: Let me give you an example from a study. Researchers asked participants to pull a rope attached to a device that measured force. When participants pulled alone, they exerted an average of 85 kilograms of force. But when they pulled in groups of three, the average force per person dropped to 70 kilograms. In groups of six, it dropped further to 60 kilograms per person. Interestingly, in another condition, the researchers told participants that their individual pulling force would be recorded separately, even though they were still pulling in a group. In that case, the participants pulled almost as hard as when they were alone, around 82 kilograms per person. This shows that when people feel their individual effort is monitored, social loafing diminishes.