Hawthorne effect what is, phases and examples

The Hawthorne effect is named after the same factory as the Western Electric Company of Hawthorne, Illinois (United States). At the beginning of the last century, the psychologist and sociologist Elton Mayo conducted a series of studies on the influence of the environment in productivity. During the study, the researchers realized that the workers reacted to a stimulus contrary to expectations: in particular, production increased even with the decrease in the lighting level. The conclusions, therefore, led to recognize the fact that being the object of observation triggered a responsibility mechanism that annulled the effect of the stimulus in the workers. With this psychology-online article we will discover together What is the Hawthorne effect, its phases and some examples about.

1. What is the Hawthorne effect
2. Hawthorne's experiment
3. Hawthorne effect phases
4. Examples of the Hawthorne effect
5. Difference between placebo effect and Hawthorne effect

What is the Hawthorne effect

Until today, with Hawthorne effect, the effect is understood - produced in a totally involuntary - induced way on subjects aware of being observed, but this phenomenon has been in the center of a approach to scientific approach. In other words, we can define it as a Improvement of worker's productivity due to a change in working conditions caused by your response to innovation or feeling of being careful. It was Henry a. Landsberger, in a criticism of the experiments, who gave what he considered a lagoon in the search for May the term of "Hawthorne" effect ".

Hawthorne's experiment

Although the term was coined in the middle of the last century, the origins of the phenomenon date back to the 20s and 30s of the twentieth century. In those years, the American Western Electric made a series of Studies on workers' productivity In your Hawthorne plant. In a set of experiments the power of the bulbs was varied to see how light affected the productivity of women who assembled electrical components; In others, on the other hand, the rest periods increased or decreased, the disposition of the rooms was changed and the work days were shortened.

The first influential reports of these experiments concluded that productivity continued to grow regardless of whether the lights were softer or more intense or if the work days were longer or longer, or that working conditions improved or worsen. The researchers concluded that the productivity improvements were not a consequence of the changes in the workplace, but were due to the fact that Your special role in the experiment made workers believe they were noticed and evaluated, So they worked more and more.

Over the years, the idea that Being part of an experiment influences the subject's attitude It has become known as Hawthorne effect, and precisely these experiments have given rise to industrial psychology, which in turn has evolved in various specializations, such as work psychology, health psychology and positive psychology.

Hawthorne effect phases

Hawthorne effect experiments occurred at several stages:

• Two groups were selected: one of control and the other on which to carry out the experiment by inserting it into a more illuminated environment. The results were so unusual that May and his parents repeated the experiment several times, varying the lighting significantly. Unexpectedly, productivity had increased in both groups: this incomprehensible result, but somewhat interesting, induced to interrupt the experiments to make some reflection.
• A couple of years after May, together with a group of psychologists, he restructured the experiment with the participation of six workers from an edition department of Relais. The observation lasted five years, a period in which a series of parameters were modified, not only in the work environment, but also in salaries, holidays and schedules. Productivity increased, but May and its group did not believe that there could be a close quantitative correlation with the variations they made. Thus they made a counterprise, which brought the situation as it was at the beginning: productivity fell, but remaining at high levels with respect to the other groups of the company. The conclusion reached by May and theirs was that the productivity of the six workers depended on the fact that they felt as a group, and group object of analysis.
• After more experiments and an avalanche of controversies, which are not even completely completely, in 1955 Landsberger analyzed the data collected and observed an interesting scheme (now known as Hawthorne effect), concluding that these could be explained by the Observer effect: That is, if observed, the behavior changes. He noted that the workers presented an increase in short -term productivity in response to being under scrutiny; It didn't seem very important if the light was high or low. He concluded that the fact that the study was communicated to the workers suggested greater attention from the management and produced a moral effect greater than that of environmental changes.

Examples of the Hawthorne effect

¿How the Hawthorne effect affects companies? What was called the Hawthorne effect was nothing more than paying attention to the human aspect of work. All he had to do was involve the six workers of the experiment, ask for collaboration, listen and involve them in the variations to be introduced. He returned them The importance they had as an experimental group in which the company would change its strategy. The technical aspect was irrelevant, while the key was participation, feeling a group.

The other aspect revealed by investigations was that Intrinsic motivation in some cases counts more than extrinsic, That is, the bonuses that the six workers took part of the company, of being able to be heard and of taking part in the decision -making power, were superior to economic bonuses.

The Hawthorne effect, therefore, suggests that companies can achieve an increase in productivity motivating employees and improving their perception of the work environment. A conclusion that gave impulse to the birth of contemporary human resources departments as responsible for the supervision of hiring, training and development of employees.

Difference between placebo effect and Hawthorne effect

It is likely that the most complete definition of placebo is that of DR. TO. K. Shapiro, which, summarizing the different meanings it proposes, it is possible to define the placebo Like any deliberately established procedure to obtain an effect or that, even without being aware of it, acts on the patient or on the symptom or disease, but objectively lacks all specific activity with respect to the condition treated. This procedure can be applied with or without the knowledge that it is a placebo, which differentiates it with the Hawthorne effect, in which The subjects are always aware that they are observed.

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