How can you reduce social loafing in groups? Think of any two incidents of social loafing in school. How did you overcome it?
(i) Social loafing can be reduced by making the efforts of each person identifiable. It can also be reduced by increasing the pressure to work hard and making group members committed to successful task performance. Additionally, increasing the apparent importance or value of a task and making people feel that their individual contribution is important helps. Finally, strengthening group cohesiveness increases the motivation for a successful group outcome.
(ii) The first incident of social loafing occurred during a game of tug-of-war at school. It was not possible to identify how much force each member exerted, allowing members to relax and become a free rider. We overcame this by making the efforts of each person identifiable and increasing the pressure to work hard.
The second incident happened during a class activity where we performed activities in groups, similar to an experiment where students clapped or cheered loudly. As group size increased, each participant put in less effort. We overcame this by making people feel their individual contribution was important and strengthening group cohesiveness to increase motivation for a successful group outcome.
Explanation
The answer uses the textbook's specific methods for reducing social loafing (making efforts identifiable, increasing pressure, increasing task value, making individual contributions feel important, strengthening cohesiveness) and applies them to school-based incidents mentioned in the text (tug-of-war and group class activities like clapping/cheering).