The impact of social loafing on college students’ classroom silence: a moderated mediation model

The phenomenon of classroom silence significantly impacts the enhancement of instructional quality. Investigating its causes and pathways constitutes the core breakthrough in addressing this issue. Adopting social loafing as the independent variable, this study constructs a theoretical model mediated by learning motivation and moderated by instructional factors. Through questionnaire surveys and structural equation modeling analysis involving 1,402 college students, we explore the influential pathways of classroom silence. Key findings include: (1) Social loafing positively predicts classroom silence (<i>β</i> = 0.42), with learning motivation serving as a partial mediator, accounting for 11.55% of the mediating effect; (2) Instructional factors demonstrate differentiated moderating mechanisms: content and methodology moderate the mediator model through dual-path regulation-mitigating social loafing's negative impact on learning motivation (moderating effects <i>β</i> = -0.02 ~ -0.03) while reinforcing learning motivation's inhibitory effect on silence (<i>β</i> = -0.02). Teaching style uniquely regulates the first pathway, whereas instructor characteristics systematically regulate the entire mediation process; (3) Although quality instructional elements reduce silent behaviors through mediation pathways, they paradoxically amplify the direct effects of social loafing among individuals, highlighting group differentiation phenomena. This study provides practical guidance for higher education management and theoretical references for mitigating college students' silent classroom behaviors.