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 individuals feel less personally accountable for the outcome and believe their contributions are less identifiable. Social loafing can reduce overall group productivity and is more likely to occur in large groups or when tasks are simple and repetitive. Researchers have studied this effect in various settings, from physical tasks like rope pulling to cognitive tasks like brainstorming.

Professor: Let me give you an example from a study conducted in a university. Researchers asked students to clap as loudly as possible. First, each student clapped alone, and their individual noise levels were measured. Then, the students were put into groups of six and asked to clap together. The researchers measured the total noise. What do you think happened? Even though six people were clapping, the total noise was only about three times as loud as one person clapping. So each person was actually clapping less vigorously in the group. Why? Because in the group, each student felt their effort was less noticeable—if they clapped less hard, no one could tell. The same effect was found in a brainstorming task where students generated fewer ideas per person when working in a group than when working alone. This shows how social loafing can reduce overall productivity.