The Hawthorne effect is defined as a phenomenon that changes the results of a experiment and affects the reactions of observers or participants to different conditions. It was first discovered during a series of productivity experiments in Western Electric Company between 1927-1932. In these experiments, different conditions were applied to increase productivity in these experiments. However, researchers have observed that productivity has increased in all circumstances. As a result, researchers have discovered that this increase depends not only on the conditions applied, but also to factors such as attracting the attention of employees, being appreciated or subjected to a special treatment. This means that the reactions of the subjects to different conditions affect the consequences of experiments. The Hawthorne effect is also known as the “observer effect” and can be effective in many different fields. For example, an employer can increase his productivity by being careful, appreciated and rewarding his employees. Similarly, a teacher can use this effect by more interesting and individually interested in them to increase the success of his students. https://egepazarindan.com/sahne-isi-tikisi-nedir-spotlight
What should Hawthorne do to reduce its effect?
In order to reduce this effect, researchers need to adjust their working conditions closer to their natural state. Thus, employees will normally do their work and researchers will be able to get more accurate information about real performance. Furthermore, in advance the conditions in which researchers think will affect the performance of the employees may enable employees to gain awareness about these conditions and adjust themselves accordingly. The Hawthorne experiment Hawthorne effect appeared in a series of production experiments in the 1920s at the Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne Works facility. These experiments were carried out to examine the effect of the workplace environment on the efficiency. During the experiments, the researchers observed how their productivity changed by exposing to different variables in the working environments. However, the researchers could not clearly determine which variable increases productivity. The increase in the productivity of the employees was not only with any variables, but also due to the increase in their attention due to the interest of researchers. Therefore, the Hawthorne effect is defined as the reflection of the changes caused by external factors (attention of researchers, awareness of employees, etc.) to the consequences of an experiment. This effect shows that the results of the experiments may be misleading and may be different from the results obtained in real world conditions. https://egepazarindan.com/zeigarnik-netisi-ornekleri-zeigarnik-etikisi-ask-ile-iliskisi/
