Hawthorne Effect

History

The term Hawthorne effect was coined as a result of events at Hawthorne Works, a manufacturing company outside of Chicago. Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, officials at the telephone parts manufacturing plant commissioned a Harvard researcher, Elton Mayo, and his colleagues to complete a series of studies on worker productivity, motivation, and satisfaction. Of particular interest to the company was the effect of lighting on productivity; they conducted several experiments to examine that relationship. For example, in one study, the researchers manipulated the level of lighting in order to see whether there were any changes in productivity among a small group of workers at the plant. Consistent with predictions, the researchers found that brighter lighting resulted in increased productivity. Unexpectedly, hourly output also increased when lighting was subsequently dimmed, even below the baseline (or usual) level. In fact, any manipulation or changes to the work environment resulted in increased output for the workers in the study. Decades later, a researcher named Henry Landsberger reevaluated the data and concluded that worker productivity increased simply as a result of the interest being shown in them rather than as a result of changes in lighting or any of the other aspects of the environment the researchers manipulated. Although the term Hawthorne effect was derived from this particular series of studies, the term more generally refers to any behavior change that stems from participants’ awareness that someone is interested in them.

A Modern-Day Application

Research on the Hawthorne effect extends well beyond the manufacturing industry. In fact, the effect applies to any type of research. For instance, a recent study examined the Hawthorne effect among patients undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. In that study, all participants were provided standard preoperative information and informed consent about the operation. However, half of the participants received additional information regarding the [Page 562]purpose of the study. Specifically, their informed consent form also indicated that they would be taking part in a research study investigating patient acceptability of the side effects of anesthesia. The researchers then examined postoperative changes in psychological well-being and physical complaints (e.g., nausea, vomiting, and pain) in the two groups. Consistent with the Hawthorne effect, participants who received the additional information indicating that they were part of a research study reported significantly better postoperative psychological and physical well-being than participants who were not informed of the study. Similar to the conclusions drawn at the Hawthorne Works manufacturing plant, researchers in the knee surgery study noted that a positive response accompanied simply knowing that one was being observed as part of research participation.

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