托福口语 Task 3

In sociology, the concept of "social loafing" refers to the tendency of individuals to exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone. This phenomenon occurs because individuals feel less accountable for the final outcome and believe that their personal contribution is less noticeable. 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 found that making individual contributions identifiable or increasing task complexity can mitigate this effect.

Professor: Let me give you an example from a real experiment. In a study, researchers asked students to clap and shout as loudly as possible. First, each student did this alone, and their noise level was measured. Then, they were put into groups of six and asked to do the same. Surprisingly, when in a group, each individual produced less noise than they did alone. The combined noise of the group was not six times louder; it was only about three times louder. Why? Because students felt their effort was less noticeable in the crowd, so they relaxed a bit. However, in another condition, the researchers told each group member that their individual contribution would be recorded separately. When students knew their noise was being measured individually, they clapped and shouted just as loudly as they did alone. This shows that when personal effort is identifiable, social loafing disappears.