The Hawthorne effect is a type of behavioral reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed. The effect was discovered in the context of research conducted at the Hawthorne Western Electric plant; however, some scholars think the descriptions are fictitious. 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. 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. 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). Henry Landsberger, a sociology professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, later suggested that the novelty of being research subjects and the increased attention from such could lead to temporary increases in workers' productivity. This interpretation was dubbed "the Hawthorne effect".
History The term "Hawthorne effect" was coined in 1953 by John R. P. French 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. 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. 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.
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 adaptation 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, 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.
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