Delilah is working with four other students in her business class on a group project that will receive a single, overall grade. Delilah notices that the people in her group don’t seem to be working very hard on the assignment. She is shocked because she requested these group members after observing them put in a lot of effort when working on individual projects for the class in the past. What is the phenomenon Delilah has noticed?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Delilah observes that the group members reduce their individual effort when working on a shared task that will be graded collectively. This hints at a classic social-psychology phenomenon where people slack off in group settings because their individual contributions are less noticeable or personally accountable.
Option 1: Social facilitation refers to improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks when others are watching. Since Delilah’s group is not working harder as a result, this option does not fit the scenario.
Option 2: Deindividuation involves a loss of self-awareness and diminished personal responsibility in a crowd, often leading to impulsive or antisocial behavior. The context here is reduced effort, not a shift toward impulsivity, so this does not match.
Option 3: Social loafing describes the tendency for individuals to exert less effort when they are part of a group and the group’s output is not directly tied to their personal performance. This precisely aligns with Delilah’s surprise at the reduced effort despite past individual diligence, making this the best explanation.
Option 4: Group polarization refers to groups making decisions or adopting positions that are more extreme than the initial individual opinions, due to group discussion dynamics. The issue here is effort level on a task, not a shift in group stance, so this option is incorrect.

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