Experiment: The Hawthorne Effect

Hawthorne Effect

The Hawthorne effect was discovered as an outcome of analysing older experiments that were conducted at the Hawthorne Works, a factory outside Chicago between 1924 and 1932. In 1955, the term ‘Hawthorne Effect’was first suggested by Henry A. Landsberger. According to Landsberger, the Hawthorne effect is a type of reactivity. It refers to any short term increase in productivity that may occur in an organization as a result of being watched or appreciated.

In organizations, it has been observed that small changes like increasing lighting, clearing obstacles from the floor, maintaining clean work stations or even increased attention to the workforce has a short-term impact on productivity.

THE HAWTHORNE EXPERIMENTS

The Hawthorne

Various variables were changed to check what impact they had on productivity. The results of the study showed that any change in a variable resulted in increased productivity. There was improvement in productivity even when the variable was changed back to how it originally was. This caused the researchers to conclude that the workers worked harder as they felt they were being watched. Researchers noted that the six individuals in the team participated whole-heartedly in the experiment, enjoying the experience of feeling special. Unique conditions like having a sympathetic supervisor and an opportunity to choose team mates was also credited with helping production levels

These counsellors then took the feedback to supervisors and helped them modify their behaviour. This exercise resulted in better intra-organizational communication.

Definitions for the Hawthorne Effect

Hawthorne effect in research refers to the scenario where a non-manipulated variable causes an unexpected impact on the variable that was originally to be manipulated.The Hawthorne effect may also refer to experimental subjects complying increasingly well with what they perceive as the wishes of the experimenter.

In an experiment, a Hawthorne effect would refer to an effect that happens in a desired direction, but not because of the expected reason. The positive effect happens not because of a variable being modified or introduced, but rather the effect takes place because the participants know they are being watched. Experimenters need to consider how the consequences of performance affect how a subject behaves. The reactions of a participant in an experiment can itself cause some changes. The conclusion therefore is that any novel change in environment or attention on subjects will be well received by