Why does social loafing occur?

One important factor is the feeling of being submerged in the group and therefore not being individually accountable. When the contributions of individual group members are identified, so that everyone (or at least the leader)knows who did what, social loafing is greatly reduced. People are less likely to steal free rides on the subway if they will be identified than if they think they can do it anonymously. Likewise, people work harder for their team or group if they believe that others will know if they slack off. Ford's assembly line may have benefited from the fact that each person performed a different job, so it would be possible to identify a lazy employee who did poor work.