TOEFL Speaking 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 occurs because people feel their individual contributions are less identifiable or less impactful within a collective. Social loafing is more likely in tasks where group performance is evaluated as a whole, and it can undermine overall productivity. Psychologists believe that decreasing the perceived diffusion of responsibility or increasing personal accountability can mitigate this effect.

Professor: Let me give you a real example from a company I consulted with. They had a team of five people responsible for writing a monthly report. Initially, each person wrote a section, but the sections were combined and submitted under the team’s name. The manager noticed the report quality dropped—deadlines were missed, and the writing became sloppy. So, the manager changed the process. She assigned each person a specific, clearly labeled section, and each section had the writer’s name at the top. Additionally, she announced that the sections would be reviewed individually, and each person would receive feedback on their own part. Almost immediately, the effort and quality improved. People took ownership, worked harder, and the final reports were much better. This shows how making individual contributions visible can reduce social loafing.