The Hawthorne Misunderstanding (and How to Get the Hawthorne Effect in Action Research)

The Hawthorne relay-assembly research has been misinterpreted as showing that interest in employees' well-being is sufficient to stimulate increased performance. In the original studies of this phenomenon, the assemblers of relays received considerable attention, but they also wanted to improve their performance and they were given feedback on how they performed. As a result, they learned to produce more relays. The “Hawthorne misunderstanding” is common in criminology, criminal justice, and other fields because authors have failed to recognize this explanation of improved work output. Producing real Hawthorne effects—that is, improvements in the performance of people—is important in action research, and such improvements are often the aims of scientists who pursue this form of research. To produce Hawthorne effects, foster the acceptance of performance goals or standards, provide feedback on performance, and remove obstacles to improved performance.