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Kegan Saajasto
Mrs. Gorski
10:00 Sociology
7 March 2016
The Hawthorne Effect
The Hawthorne Effect is the idea that “behavior during the course of an experiment can be
altered by a subject’s awareness of participating in an experiment” (Was there a Hawthorne Effect?).
There have been multiple sociological experiments testing this effect. Throughout this short essay I will
present what the Hawthorne effect was, and several experiments that pertained to it. I will then relate
the experiments mentioned to the experiment that I will be conducting (with my South Korean
counterparts).
The initial Hawthorne effect took place in the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric Company in
the 1920’s and 1930’s. The studies were conducted primarily by Elton Mayo, and his “protégé” Fritz J.
Roethlisberger. (The Interview Process, the Human Relations Movement, Historical Collections) The
studies were composed of many long “investigations into the importance for work behavior and
attitudes of a variety of physical, economic, and social variables.” (The Hawthorne Studies: A Radical
Criticism.). The original Hawthorne effect experimentation took place in five stages. In the first stage,
“Relay Assembly Test Room Study.” the subjects were presented with a new system for motivation
(incentive system) and they were also under new form of supervision. In the second stage (conducted in
a new room), a new group was only presented with a new incentive system… no new supervision was
given. In the third stage (also in a new room) new supervision was the only thing given to the subjects.
The first three stages were supposed to find out more about work behavior and physical conditions of
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work, whereas the studies actually discovered that the workers cared more for their own “social
satisfactions” than “physical or economic aspects” of their workplace. The final two stages of the study
were adjusted in order to fit the conclusions that were made from stages one-three.
In one of the test rooms in the Hawthorne experiments, there were six women in the Relay
Assembly Test Room. These six women helped Elton Mayo and Fritz J. Roethlisberger conclude that
good mental attitudes, and social relationships, as well as ample supervision, are crucial for an increase
in productivity and job satisfaction. These six women grew to be friends. After several years the
productivity had risen drastically.
There have been multiple studies on the Hawthorne effect. And not all of the studies agreed
with the Hawthorne effect. One study that was conducted by Franke and Kaul (The Hawthorne
Experiments: A Critique and Reanalysis of the First Statistical Interpretation by Franke and Kaul.)
disagreed with the overall premise of the Hawthorne effect and claimed that “variance in worker output
could be attributed to variables “measured” during the course of the original research, particularly
working conditions and environment”. Franke and Kaul studied primarily the “Relay Assembly Test
Room” (Worker Interdependence and Output: The Hawthorne Studies Reevaluated.). Their conclusion
was that the way that workers acted wasn’t necessarily directly proportional to the whether an
experiment was being conducted or not (which is what the Hawthorne effect dictates). Instead Franke
and Kaul concluded that the “variance” or fluctuation within workers output should be primarily
attributed to the atmosphere around them as opposed to the fact that they’re being studied.
A paper that disagreed with the Hawthorne Effect (The Hawthorne Studies: A Radical Criticism),
discussed the overall ideas that were presented throughout the original Hawthorne Effect, and
concluded that “material, and especially financial, reward is the principle influence on work morale and
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behavior” (The Hawthorne Studies: A Radical Criticism). In other words, Alex Carey found that the
Hawthorne experiments could be justified by looking at the rewards the workers were receiving. Carey
thought that the incentives that were provided caused the increase in productivity, and not simply the
fact that the subjects were being studied by Mayo, and Roethlisberger.
Although many papers and studies do not agree with the conclusions of the Hawthorne Effect,
most sociologists will still recognize that there was plenty of validity within the Hawthorne tests.
“Overall, however, there is a high – perhaps surprisingly high – degree of correspondence between the
present statistical analysis of worker interdependence and the verbal accounts given by the early
Hawthorne researchers.” (Worker Interdependence and Output: The Hawthorne Studies Reevaluated.
(pg 187)). This quotation portrays that the results from the Hawthorne studies have remained similar to
the results that have been gathered recently.
In sum, the Hawthorne effect, although disputed by many, determined that the “behavior
during the course of an experiment can be altered by a subject’s awareness of participating in an
experiment”. Throughout my studies at a local McDonalds, we will test the Hawthorne Effect to see if
the results of a simple test change when the subjects know they’re being watched and studied. We will
then compare results of the same study, one which was conducted in South Korea, and one in Illinois
(USA).
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Works Cited
Alex Carey. "The Hawthorne Studies: A Radical Criticism." American Sociological Review, Vol. 32,
No. 3 (Jun., 1967), Pp. 403-416. American Sociological Association. Web. 21 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/2091087>.
"The Interview Process The Human Relations Movement , Historical Collections." Baker Library
| Bloomberg Center. Harvard Business School. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/hawthorne/07.html#seven>.
Jones, Stephen R.G. "Was There a Hawthorne Effect?" The American Journal Of Sociology 98
(Nov. 1992): 451-68. JStor. Web. 21 Mar. 2010.
Milton Bloombaum. "The Hawthorne Experiments: A Critique and Reanalysis of the First
Statistical Interpretation by Franke and Kaul." Sociological Perspectives, Vol. 26, No. 1
(Jan., 1983), Pp. 71-88. University of California Press. Web. 21 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/1389160>.
Stephen R. G. Jones. "Worker Interdependence and Output: The Hawthorne Studies
Reevaluated." American Sociological Review, Vol. 55, No. 2 (Apr., 1990), Pp. 176-190.
American Sociological Association. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/2095625>.