Editing Hawthorne effect (section)

{{short description|Social phenomenon by which being observed causes behavioral changes}}
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The '''Hawthorne effect''' is a type of human behavior [[reactivity (psychology)|reactivity]] in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed.<ref name="pmid17608932">{{cite journal |vauthors=McCarney R, Warner J, Iliffe S, van Haselen R, Griffin M, Fisher P|title=The Hawthorne Effect: a randomised, controlled trial |journal=BMC Med Res Methodol |volume=7|pages=30 |year=2007 |pmid=17608932 |pmc=1936999 |doi=10.1186/1471-2288-7-30 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="pmid18771841">{{cite journal |vauthors=Fox NS, Brennan JS, Chasen ST|title=Clinical estimation of fetal weight and the Hawthorne effect |journal=Eur. J. Obstet. Gynecol. Reprod. Biol. |volume=141 |issue=2 |pages=111–114 |year=2008 |pmid=18771841 |doi=10.1016/j.ejogrb.2008.07.023}}</ref> The effect was discovered in the context of research conducted at the Hawthorne [[Western Electric]] plant; however, some scholars think the descriptions are fictitious.<ref name="Levitt">{{cite journal |last1=Levitt |first1=S. D. |author-link=Steven Levitt |last2=List |first2=J. A. |author-link2=John A. List |year=2011 |title=Was there really a Hawthorne effect at the Hawthorne plant? An analysis of the original illumination experiments |journal=American Economic Journal: Applied Economics |volume=3 |pages=224–238 |doi=10.1257/app.3.1.224 |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w15016.pdf }}</ref>

The original research involved workers who made electrical relays at the [[Hawthorne Works]], a Western Electric plant in [[Cicero, Illinois|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.<ref name="Levitt"/> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schonfeld |first1=I. S. |last2=Chang |first2=C.-H. |year=2017 |title=Occupational health psychology: Work, stress, and health |location=New York |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-8261-9967-6 }}</ref> 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 [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|UNC-Chapel Hill]],<ref>{{cite web |date=March 21, 2017 |first=Reggie |last=Singletary |title=Henry Landsberger 1926-2017 |url=https://sociology.unc.edu/henry-landsberger-1926-2017/ |website=Department of Sociology |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330161127/http://sociology.unc.edu/henry-landsberger-1926-2017/ |archive-date=2017-03-30}}</ref> suggested that the novelty of being research subjects and the increased attention from such could lead to temporary increases in workers' productivity.<ref name = "Landsberger">{{cite book |last=Landsberger |first=H. A. |title=Hawthorne Revisited |location=Ithaca |publisher=Cornell University |year=1958 |oclc=61637839 }}</ref> This interpretation was dubbed "the Hawthorne effect".