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The Hawthorne Effect originally referred to the increase in worker productivity observed when a worker is singled out and made to feel important. The phenomenon was first observed at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric company in Cicero, Illinois from 1927 to 1932 by researchers from Harvard Business School. Researchers discovered that productivity increased regardless of which environmental factors were manipulated. They concluded that giving employees any sort of attention improved productivity. These studies, called the Hawthorne studies, were early examples of industrial psychology.
Most of the Harvard field study researchers doing the observations of the Western Electric assembly line workers were eager young men. Most of the Western Electric assembly line workers were young ladies. Gender questions may have further tainted the experiments.
The Hawthorne Effect more generally refers to the tendency of subjects to attempt to please researchers.
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