Social phenomenon by which being observed causes behavioral changes
The Hawthorne effect is a type of human behavior reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed.[1][2] The effect was discovered in the context of research conducted at the Hawthorne Western Electric plant; however, some scholars think the descriptions are fictitious.[3]
The original research involved workers who made electrical relays at the Hawthorne Works, a Western Electric plant in Cicero, Illinois. Between 1924 and 1927, the lighting study was conducted, wherein workers experienced a series of lighting changes that were said to increase productivity. This conclusion turned out to be false.[3] In an Elton Mayo study that ran from 1927 to 1928, a series of changes in work structure were implemented (e.g. changes in rest periods) in a group of six women. However, this was a methodologically poor, uncontrolled study from which no firm conclusions could be drawn.[4] Elton Mayo later conducted two additional experiments to study the phenomenon: the mass interviewing experiment (1928-1930) and the bank wiring observation experiment (1931-32).
One of the later interpretations by Henry Landsberger, a sociology professor at UNC-Chapel Hill,[5] suggested that the novelty of being research subjects and the increased attention from such could lead to temporary increases in workers' productivity.[6] This interpretation was dubbed "the Hawthorne effect".
The term "Hawthorne effect" was coined in 1953 by John R. P. French[7] after the Hawthorne studies were conducted between 1924 and 1932 at the Hawthorne Works (a Western Electric factory in Cicero, outside Chicago). The Hawthorne Works had commissioned a study to determine if its workers would become more productive in brighter or dimmer levels of light. The workers' productivity seemed to improve when changes were made but returned to their original level when the study ended. It has been alternatively suggested that the workers' productivity increased because they were motivated by interest being shown in them.[8]
This effect was observed for minute increases in illumination. In these lighting studies, light intensity was altered to examine the resulting effect on worker productivity. When discussing the Hawthorne effect, most industrial and organizational psychology textbooks refer almost exclusively to the illumination studies as opposed to the other types of studies that have been conducted.[9]
Although early studies focused on altering workplace illumination, other changes such as maintaining clean work stations, clearing floors of obstacles, and relocating workstations have also been found to result in increased productivity for short periods of time. Thus, the Hawthorne effect can apply to a cause or causes other than changing lighting.[6][10][11]
Illumination experiment
The illumination experiment was conducted from 1924 to 1927. The purpose was to determine the effect of light variations on worker productivity. The experiment ran in two rooms: the experiment room, in which workers went about their workday under various light levels; and the control room, in which workers did their tasks under normal conditions. The hypothesis was that as the light level was increased in the experiment room, productivity would increase.
However, when the intensity of light was increased in the experiment room, researchers found that productivity had improved in both rooms. The light level in the experiment room was then decreased, and the results were the same: increased productivity in both rooms. Productivity only began to decrease in the experiment room when the light level was reduced to about the level of moonlight, which made it hard to see.
Ultimately it was concluded that illumination did not have any effect on productivity and that there must have been some other variable causing the observed productivity increases in both rooms. Another phase of experiments was needed to pinpoint the cause.
Relay assembly experiments
In 1927, researchers conducted an experiment where they chose two female workers as test subjects and asked them to choose four other women to join the test group. Until 1928, the team of women worked in a separate room, assembling telephone relays.
Output was measured mechanically by counting how many finished relays each worker dropped down a chute. To establish a baseline productivity level, the measurement was begun in secret two weeks before the women were moved to the experiment room, and then continued throughout the study. In the experiment room, a supervisor discussed changes in their productivity.
Some of the variables were:
Giving the workers two 5-minute breaks (which they said they preferred beforehand) and then switching to two 10-minute breaks. Productivity increased, but when they were given six 5-minute breaks, productivity decreased because many rests broke the workers' flow.
Providing soup or coffee with a sandwich in the morning and snacks in the evening. This increased productivity.
Changing the end of the workday from 5:00 to 4:30 and eliminating the Saturday workday. This increased productivity.
Changing a variable usually increased productivity, even if the variable was just a change back to the original condition. It is said that this reflects natural adaption to the environment without knowing the objective of the experiment. Researchers concluded that the workers worked harder because they thought that they were being monitored individually.
Researchers hypothesized that choosing one's own coworkers, working as a group, being treated as special (as evidenced by working in a separate room), and having a sympathetic supervisor were the real reasons for the productivity increase. One interpretation, mainly due to Elton Mayo's studies,[12] was that "the six individuals became a team and the team gave itself wholeheartedly and spontaneously to cooperation in the experiment." Further, there was a second relay assembly test room study whose results were not as significant as the first experiment.
Mass interviewing program
The program was conducted from 1928 to 1930 and involved 20,000 interviews. The interviews initially used direct questioning, asking questions related to the supervision and policies of the company involved. The drawback of the direct questioning was that the answers were only "yes" or "no", which was unhelpful for finding the root of problems. Therefore, researchers took to indirect questioning, in which the interviewer would listen. This gave valuable insights about workers' behavior, specifically that the behavior of a worker (or individual) is shaped by group behavior.
Bank wiring room experiments
The purpose of the next study was to find out how payment incentives and small groups would affect productivity. The surprising result was that productivity actually decreased. Workers apparently had become suspicious that their productivity may have been boosted to justify firing some of the workers later on.[13] The study was conducted by Elton Mayo and W. Lloyd Warner between 1931 and 1932 on a group of fourteen men who put together telephone switching equipment. The researchers found that although the workers were paid according to individual productivity, productivity decreased because the men were afraid that the company would lower the base rate. Detailed observation of the men revealed the existence of informal groups or "cliques" within the formal groups. These cliques developed informal rules of behavior as well as mechanisms to enforce them. The cliques served to control group members and to manage bosses; when bosses asked questions, clique members gave the same responses, even if they were untrue. These results show that workers were more responsive to the social force of their peer groups than to the control and incentives of management.
Interpretation and criticism
Richard Nisbett has described the Hawthorne effect as "a glorified anecdote", saying that "once you have got the anecdote, you can throw away the data."[14] Other researchers have attempted to explain the effects with various interpretations. J. G. Adair warned of gross factual inaccuracy in most secondary publications on the Hawthorne effect and that many studies failed to find it.[15] He argued that it should be viewed as a variant of Orne's (1973) experimental demand effect. For Adair, the Hawthorne effect depended on the participants' interpretation of the situation. An implication is that manipulation checks are important in social sciences experiments. He advanced the view that awareness of being observed was not the source of the effect, but participants' interpretation of the situation is critical. How did the participants' interpretation of the situation interact with the participants' goals?
Possible explanations for the Hawthorne effect include the impact of feedback and motivation towards the experimenter. Receiving feedback on their performance may improve their skills when an experiment provides this feedback for the first time.[16] Research on the demand effect also suggests that people may be motivated to please the experimenter, at least if it does not conflict with any other motive.[17] They may also be suspicious of the purpose of the experimenter.[16] Therefore, Hawthorne effect may only occur when there is usable feedback or a change in motivation.
Parsons defined the Hawthorne effect as "the confounding that occurs if experimenters fail to realize how the consequences of subjects' performance affect what subjects do" [i.e. learning effects, both permanent skill improvement and feedback-enabled adjustments to suit current goals]. His key argument was that in the studies where workers dropped their finished goods down chutes, the participants had access to the counters of their work rate.[16]
Mayo contended that the effect was due to the workers reacting to the sympathy and interest of the observers. He discussed the study as demonstrating an experimenter effect as a management effect: how management can make workers perform differently because they feel differently. He suggested that much of the Hawthorne effect concerned the workers feeling free and in control as a group rather than as being supervised. The experimental manipulations were important in convincing the workers to feel that conditions in the special five-person work group were actually different from the conditions on the shop floor. The study was repeated with similar effects on mica-splitting workers.[12]
Clark and Sugrue in a review of educational research reported that uncontrolled novelty effects cause on average 30% of a standard deviation (SD) rise (i.e. 50–63% score rise), with the rise decaying to a much smaller effect after 8 weeks. In more detail: 50% of a SD for up to 4 weeks; 30% of SD for 5–8 weeks; and 20% of SD for > 8 weeks, (which is < 1% of the variance).[18]:333
Harry Braverman pointed out that the Hawthorne tests were based on industrial psychology and the researchers involved were investigating whether workers' performance could be predicted by pre-hire testing. The Hawthorne study showed "that the performance of workers had little relation to their ability and in fact often bore an inverse relation to test scores...".[19] Braverman argued that the studies really showed that the workplace was not "a system of bureaucratic formal organisation on the Weberian model, nor a system of informal group relations, as in the interpretation of Mayo and his followers but rather a system of power, of class antagonisms". This discovery was a blow to those hoping to apply the behavioral sciences to manipulate workers in the interest of management.[19]
The economists Steven Levitt and John A. List long pursued without success a search for the base data of the original illumination experiments (they were not true experiments but some authors labeled them experiments), before finding it in a microfilm at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee in 2011.[20] Re-analysing it, they found slight evidence for the Hawthorne effect over the long-run, but in no way as drastic as suggested initially.[21] This finding supported the analysis of an article by S. R. G. Jones in 1992 examining the relay experiments.[22][23] Despite the absence of evidence for the Hawthorne effect in the original study, List has said that he remains confident that the effect is genuine.[24]
Gustav Wickström and Tom Bendix (2000) argue that the supposed "Hawthorne effect" is actually ambiguous and disputable, and instead recommend that to evaluate intervention effectiveness, researchers should introduce specific psychological and social variables that may have affected the outcome.[25]
It is also possible that the illumination experiments can be explained by a longitudinal learning effect. Parsons has declined to analyse the illumination experiments, on the grounds that they have not been properly published and so he cannot get at details, whereas he had extensive personal communication with Roethlisberger and Dickson.[16]
Evaluation of the Hawthorne effect continues in the present day.[26][27][28][29] Despite the criticisms, however, the phenomenon is often taken into account when designing studies and their conclusions.[30] Some have also developed ways to avoid it. For instance, there is the case of holding the observation when conducting a field study from a distance, from behind a barrier such as a two-way mirror or using an unobtrusive measure.[31]
Greenwood, Bolton, and Greenwood (1983) interviewed some of the participants in the experiments and found that the participants were paid significantly better.[32]
Trial effect
Various medical scientists have studied possible trial effect (clinical trial effect) in clinical trials.[33][34][35] Some postulate that, beyond just attention and observation, there may be other factors involved, such as slightly better care; slightly better compliance/adherence; and selection bias. The latter may have several mechanisms: (1) Physicians may tend to recruit patients who seem to have better adherence potential and lesser likelihood of future loss to follow-up. (2) The inclusion/exclusion criteria of trials often exclude at least some comorbidities; although this is often necessary to prevent confounding, it also means that trials may tend to work with healthier patient subpopulations.
Secondary observer effect
Despite the observer effect as popularized in the Hawthorne experiments being perhaps falsely identified (see above discussion), the popularity and plausibility of the observer effect in theory has led researchers to postulate that this effect could take place at a second level. Thus it has been proposed that there is a secondary observer effect when researchers working with secondary data such as survey data or various indicators may impact the results of their scientific research. Rather than having an effect on the subjects (as with the primary observer effect), the researchers likely have their own idiosyncrasies that influence how they handle the data and even what data they obtain from secondary sources. For one, the researchers may choose seemingly innocuous steps in their statistical analyses that end up causing significantly different results using the same data; e.g. weighting strategies, factor analytic techniques, or choice of estimation. In addition, researchers may use software packages that have different default settings that lead to small but significant fluctuations. Finally, the data that researchers use may not be identical, even though it seems so. For example, the OECD collects and distributes various socio-economic data; however, these data change over time such that a researcher who downloads the Australian GDP data for the year 2000 may have slightly different values than a researcher who downloads the same Australian GDP 2000 data a few years later. The idea of the secondary observer effect was floated by Nate Breznau in a thus far relatively obscure paper.[36]
Although little attention has been paid to this phenomenon, the scientific implications are very large.[37] Evidence of this effect may be seen in recent studies that assign a particular problem to a number of researchers or research teams who then work independently using the same data to try and find a solution. This is a process called crowdsourcing data analysis and was used in a groundbreaking study by Silberzahn, Rafael, Eric Uhlmann, Dan Martin and Brian Nosek et al. (2015) about red cards and player race in football (i.e. soccer).[38][39]
Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing attitudes. The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs.
A randomized controlled trial is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical techniques, medical devices, diagnostic procedures, diets or other medical treatments.
Human relations movement refers to the researchers of organizational development who study the behaviour of people in groups, particularly in workplace groups and other related concepts in fields such as industrial and organizational psychology. It originated in the 1930s' Hawthorne studies, which examined the effects of social relations, motivation and employee satisfaction on factory productivity. The movement viewed workers in terms of their psychology and fit with companies, rather than as interchangeable parts, and it resulted in the creation of the discipline of human relations management.
In a blind or blinded experiment, information which may influence the participants of the experiment is withheld until after the experiment is complete. Good blinding can reduce or eliminate experimental biases that arise from a participants' expectations, observer's effect on the participants, observer bias, confirmation bias, and other sources. A blind can be imposed on any participant of an experiment, including subjects, researchers, technicians, data analysts, and evaluators. In some cases, while blinding would be useful, it is impossible or unethical. For example, it is not possible to blind a patient to their treatment in a physical therapy intervention. A good clinical protocol ensures that blinding is as effective as possible within ethical and practical constraints.
George Elton Mayo was an Australian born psychologist, industrial researcher, and organizational theorist. Mayo was formally trained at the University of Adelaide, acquiring a Bachelor of Arts Degree graduating with First Class Honours, majoring in philosophy and psychology, and was later awarded an honorary Master of Arts Degree from the University of Queensland (UQ).
Organizational theory refers to a series of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations. Organizational theory also seeks to explain how interrelated units of organization either connect or do not connect with each other. Organizational theory also concerns understanding how groups of individuals behave, which may differ from the behavior of an individual. The behavior organizational theory often focuses on is goal-directed. Organizational theory covers both intra-organizational and inter-organizational fields of study.
Human subject research is systematic, scientific investigation that can be either interventional or observational and involves human beings as research subjects, commonly known as test subjects. Human subject research can be either medical (clinical) research or non-medical research. Systematic investigation incorporates both the collection and analysis of data in order to answer a specific question. Medical human subject research often involves analysis of biological specimens, epidemiological and behavioral studies and medical chart review studies. On the other hand, human subject research in the social sciences often involves surveys which consist of questions to a particular group of people. Survey methodology includes questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups.
Observer bias is one of the types of detection bias and is defined as any kind of systematic divergence from accurate facts during observation and the recording of data and information in studies. The definition can be further expanded upon to include the systematic difference between what is observed due to variation in observers, and what the true value is.
In psychology, the Asch conformity experiments or the Asch paradigm were a series of studies directed by Solomon Asch studying if and how individuals yielded to or defied a majority group and the effect of such influences on beliefs and opinions.
Weapon focus is the concentration on a weapon by a witness of a crime and the subsequent inability to accurately remember other details of the crime. Weapon focus is a factor that heavily affects the reliability of eyewitness testimony. This effect involves a witness to a crime diverting his or her attention to the weapon the perpetrator is holding, thus causing memory impairments and leaving less attention for other details in the scene, such as the attacker’s face, clothing or vehicle.
In social research, particularly in psychology, the term demand characteristic refers to an experimental artifact where participants form an interpretation of the experiment's purpose and subconsciously change their behavior to fit that interpretation. Typically, demand characteristics are considered an extraneous variable, exerting an effect on behavior other than that intended by the experimenter. Pioneering research was conducted on demand characteristics by Martin Orne.
Fritz Jules Roethlisberger was a social scientist and management theorist at the Harvard Business School.
Reactivity is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals alter their performance or behavior due to the awareness that they are being observed. The change may be positive or negative, and depends on the situation. It is a significant threat to a research study's external validity and is typically controlled for using blind experiment designs.
Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms, politics or being like-minded. Norms are implicit, specific rules, guidance shared by a group of individuals, that guide their interactions with others. People often choose to conform to society rather than to pursue personal desires – because it is often easier to follow the path others have made already, rather than forging a new one. Thus, conformity is sometimes a product of group communication. This tendency to conform occurs in small groups and/or in society as a whole and may result from subtle unconscious influences, or from direct and overt social pressure. Conformity can occur in the presence of others, or when an individual is alone. For example, people tend to follow social norms when eating or when watching television, even if alone.
The Stanford marshmallow experiment was a study on delayed gratification in 1970 led by psychologist Walter Mischel, a professor at Stanford University. In this study, a child was offered a choice between one small but immediate reward, or two small rewards if they waited for a period of time. During this time, the researcher left the child in a room with a single marshmallow for about 15 minutes and then returned. If they did not eat the marshmallow, the reward was either another marshmallow or pretzel stick, depending on the child's preference. In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores, educational attainment, body mass index (BMI), and other life measures. A replication attempt with a sample from a more diverse population, over 10 times larger than the original study, showed only half the effect of the original study. The replication suggested that economic background, rather than willpower, explained the other half. The predictive power of the marshmallow test was challenged in a 2020 study. Work done in 2018 and 2024 found that the Marshmallow Test "does not reliably predict adult functioning".
A social experiment is a method of psychological or sociological research that observes people's reactions to certain situations or events. The experiment depends on a particular social approach where the main source of information is the participants' point of view and knowledge. To carry out a social experiment, specialists usually split participants into two groups — active participants and respondents. Throughout the experiment, specialists monitor participants to identify the effects and differences resulting from the experiment. A conclusion is then created based on the results. Intentional communities are generally considered social experiments.
Employee motivation is an intrinsic and internal drive to put forth the necessary effort and action towards work-related activities. It has been broadly defined as the "psychological forces that determine the direction of a person's behavior in an organisation, a person's level of effort and a person's level of persistence". Also, "Motivation can be thought of as the willingness to expend energy to achieve a goal or a reward. Motivation at work has been defined as 'the sum of the processes that influence the arousal, direction, and maintenance of behaviors relevant to work settings'." Motivated employees are essential to the success of an organization as motivated employees are generally more productive at the work place.
Harwood research refers to research in organizational psychology that took place at Harwood Manufacturing, a Virginia-based textiles manufacturer, over the course of four decades in the early to mid-Twentieth Century.
Charles D. Wrege was an American management historian, and Professor at Rutgers University. He is known for his contributions to management history, especially his critical work on Frederick W. Taylor and scientific management.
The 'doorway effect' or 'location updating effect' is a replicable psychological phenomenon characterized by short-term memory loss when passing through a doorway or moving from one location to another. We tend to forget items of recent significance immediately after crossing a boundary and often forget what we were thinking about or planning on doing upon entering a different room. Research suggests that this phenomenon occurs both at literal boundaries and metaphorical boundaries.
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↑ Singletary R (March 21, 2017). "Henry Landsberger 1926-2017". Department of Sociology. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017.
↑ Steele-Johnson D, Beauregard RS, Hoover PB, Schmidt AM (2000). "Goal orientation and task demand effects on motivation, affect, and performance". The Journal of Applied Psychology. 85 (5): 724–738. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.85.5.724. PMID11055145.
↑ Clark RE, Sugrue BM (1991). "30. Research on instructional media, 1978–1988". In G.J.Anglin (ed.). Instructional technology: past, present, and future. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited. pp.327–343.
↑ Kohli E, Ptak J, Smith R, Taylor E, Talbot EA, Kirkland KB (2009). "Variability in the Hawthorne effect with regard to hand hygiene performance in high- and low-performing inpatient care units". Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 30 (3): 222–225. doi:10.1086/595692. PMID19199530. S2CID19058173.
↑ Leonard KL (2008). "Is patient satisfaction sensitive to changes in the quality of care? An exploitation of the Hawthorne effect". J Health Econ. 27 (2): 444–459. doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2007.07.004. PMID18192043.
↑ Braunholtz DA, Edwards SJ, Lilford RJ (2001). "Are randomized clinical trials good for us (in the short term)? Evidence for a "trial effect"". J Clin Epidemiol. 54 (3): 217–224. doi:10.1016/s0895-4356(00)00305-x. PMID11223318.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
↑ McCarney R, Warner J, Iliffe S, van Haselen R, Griffin M, Fisher P (2007). "The Hawthorne Effect: a randomised, controlled trial". BMC Medical Research Methodology. 7: 30. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-7-30. PMC1936999. PMID17608932.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
Ciment, Shoshy. “Costco Is Offering an Additional $2 an Hour to Its Hourly Employees across the US as the Coronavirus Outbreak Causes Massive Shopping Surges.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 23 Mar. 2020, www.businessinsider.com/costco-pays-workers-2-dollars-an-hour-more-coronavirus-2020-3.
Miller, Katherine, and Joshua Barbour. Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes 7th Edition. Cengage Learning, 2014.
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