What is the Hawthorne effect?
The Hawthorne effect is a change in behaviour caused by awareness of being observed or of receiving special attention. It is named after studies at Western Electric’s Hawthorne Works near Chicago (1924–1932); sociologist Henry Landsberger coined the term in 1958.
📌 At a glance
- Site
- Western Electric Hawthorne Works
- Years
- 1924–1932
- Key researchers
- Elton Mayo, Roethlisberger, Dickson
- Term
- Henry Landsberger (1958)
The studies
Illumination tests, the relay assembly test room, a large interview programme and the bank wiring observation room were interpreted as showing that social relations and attention matter for productivity, launching the human relations movement.
Reanalysis
Levitt and List (2011) reanalysed surviving illumination data and found little evidence of the dramatic effect often described. Today the Hawthorne effect is treated as a possible bias to control for with comparison groups and blinding.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Hawthorne effect?
- Behaviour changing because people know they are being observed.
- Is the Hawthorne effect real?
- Observation can influence behaviour, but reanalyses suggest the original evidence was weaker than often claimed.
References
- Roethlisberger, F. J., & Dickson, W. J. (1939). Management and the worker. Harvard University Press.
- Landsberger, H. A. (1958). Hawthorne revisited. Cornell University.
- Levitt, S. D., & List, J. A. (2011). Was there really a Hawthorne effect at the Hawthorne plant? An analysis of the original illumination experiments. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(1), 224–238.