What Happened at Hawthorne?: New evidence suggests the Hawthorne effect resulted from operant reinforcement contingencies.
Abstract
The Hawthorne effect in experimental research is the unwanted effect of the experimental operations themselves. Following the Hawthorne studies, various explanations have been proposed to account for rising rates of production. Although in the Relay Assembly Test Room experiment the experimental operations may have produced other extraneous variables, a reexamination based on new and neglected evidence has yielded a new interpretation. The new variable, made more plausible because research in other contexts has shown it to have similar effects, is a combination of information feedback and financial reward. It is an example of the control of behavior by its consequences. Although several approaches may be taken to explain the effects of response-consequence contingencies, I have favored operant conditioning because it seems to account for progressive increases in response rate—the Hawthorne phenomenon. Generalizing from the particular situation at Hawthorne, I would define the Hawthorne effect as the confounding that occurs if experimenters fail to realize how the consequences of subjects' performance affect what subjects do. But the Hawthorne effect need not be viewed solely as a problem in conducting experiments. The phenomenon that created it should be studied in its own right, as Sommer suggested with a different phenomenon in mind. The study of response-consequence contingencies might well be extended to the examination of motivation in industrial workers.
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The hospital team acclimatized to the blinded observer's presence and normalized their work, to avoid the Hawthorne effect as best as possible.
“The hospital team acclimatized to her presence and normalized their work. This was to avoid the Hawthorne effect as best as was possible [19].”
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Marras, W. S., & Hancock, P. A. (2013) · Applied Ergonomics · doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2013.03.025 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
“(and see Parsons, 1974).”
The first nutritionDay in nursing homes: Participation may improve malnutrition awareness
Valentini, L., Schindler, K., Schlaffer, R., Bucher, H., Mouhieddine, M., Steininger, K., Tripamer, J., Handschuh, M., Schuh, C. J., Volkert, D., et al. (2009) · Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2009.01.021 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
“Months since admission med [range] 2117 29 [1–516]”
BackgroundInfluentialFujimi, T., & Fujimura, K. (2020) · International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction · doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101690 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Rahman, A. E., Iqbal, A., Hoque, D. M. E., Moinuddin, M., Zaman, S. B., Rahman, Q. S.-U., Begum, T., Chowdhury, A. I., Haider, R., Arifeen, S. E., et al. (2017) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170267 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Heller, A. R., Mees, S. T., Lauterwald, B., Reeps, C., Koch, T., & Weitz, J. (2018) · Annals of Surgery · doi:10.1097/sla.0000000000002830 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Qualitative inquiry in medical research
Holman, H. R. (1993) · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/0895-4356(93)90006-m · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Lo, A. X., Rundle, A., Buys, D. R., Kennedy, R., Sawyer, P., Allman, R. M., & Brown, C. J. (2016) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/jgs.14353 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
The “Hawthorne effect” is a myth, but what keeps the story going?
Kompier, M. A. J. (2006) · Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment & Health · doi:10.5271/sjweh.1036 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Using feedback to promote learning
Hattie, J., & Yates, G. C. R. (2014) · Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Kaul, R., Kimani, J., Nagelkerke, N. J. D., Fonck, K., Keli, F., MacDonald, K. S., Ronald, A., Plummer, F. A., Bwayo, J. J., NGUGI, E. N., et al. (2002) · JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes · doi:10.1097/00042560-200205010-00009 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Wind, J., & Koelemay, M. J. W. (2007) · European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery · doi:10.1016/j.ejvs.2006.12.030 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
An experiment measuring the effects of personal software process (PSP) training
Prechelt, L., & Unger, B. W. (2001) · IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering · doi:10.1109/32.922716 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Chen, L. F., Carriker, C. M., Staheli, R., Isaacs, P. J., Elliott, B., Miller, B. A., Anderson, D. J., Moehring, R. W., Vereen, S., Bringhurst, J., et al. (2012) · Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology · doi:10.1086/669084 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
The Relation Between Need for Cognition and Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis
Liu, Q., & Nesbit, J. (2023) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/00346543231160474 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
“The research setting might moderate the association between need for cognition and learning performance because students may be inclined to perform differently in laboratory environments if their awareness of being observed is more acute (McCambridge et al., 2014; Parsons, 1974).”
BackgroundRadiation exposure to patients during ERCP is significantly higher with low-volume endoscopists
Liao, C., Thosani, N. C., Kothari, S., Friedland, S., Chen, A. M., & Banerjee, S. (2014) · Gastrointestinal Endoscopy · doi:10.1016/j.gie.2014.08.001 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“Although ours was a retrospective study, we believe this to be a strength because it avoided the Hawthorne effect, the phenomenon in which participants in a study modify their behavior because they are aware that they are being monitored, thereby biasing the results.(14) To attest to the reality of the Hawthorne effec…”
ResultSetting a standard for electricity pilot studies
Davis, A. L., Krishnamurti, T., Fischhoff, B., & de Bruin, W. B. (2013) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.07.093 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“That difference might reflect a Hawthorne effect, where just knowing one is being studied changes behavior (Parsons, 1974; Orne, 1962).”
BackgroundDworkin, S. L., Jarrett, S. B., & Ehrhardt, A. Α. (2006) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-006-9092-9 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
“These results may be reflective of longstanding debates about placebo effects in control groups within clinical trials (Djulbegovic, 2001, Newman, Browner, Cummings, & Hulley 2001; Parsons, 1974), and shed light on the specifics of how and why control groups change.”
ResultThe Anthropology of Organisations
(2017) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315241371 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Serious Games in Breaking Informational Barriers in Solar EnergyPreprint
Rai, V., & Beck, A. L. (2016) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2017.03.001 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
- Authors
- Parsons, H. M.
- Affiliations
- Riverside Research Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Parsons, H. M.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 1974-03-08
- Volume
- 183
- Issue
- 4128
- Pages
- 922-932
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W1987677291
- Cited by
- 615
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 29
- FWCI
- 10.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management Theory and Practice
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › General Psychology › Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology
- Keywords
- Hawthorne effect, Hawthorne studies, information feedback, monetary rewards, operant conditioning, confounding variables, employee motivation, industrial workers, production rate
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