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Hawthorne effect

1. a positive change in the performance of a group of persons taking part in an experiment or study due to their perception of being singled out for special consideration.

/ ˈhɔːˌθɔːn /

noun

1. improvement in the performance of employees, students, etc, brought about by making changes in working methods, resulting from research into means of improving performance
   Compare iatrogenic placebo effect

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Word History and Origins

Origin of Hawthorne effect1

First recorded in

1960–65;

after the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company, Cicero, Ill., where such an effect was observed in experiments

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Word History and Origins

Origin of Hawthorne effect1

from the Western Electric Company's Hawthorne works in Chicago, USA, where it was discovered during experiments in the 1920s

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Example Sentences

Sometims the "success" of the earlier project was simply a result of random chance, or what researchers call the Hawthorne Effect.