As a child, I remember my father taking 8 millimeter home movies of birthday parties, vacations, and other events in the life of our family.  Sometimes, he would use a set of floodlights mounted on a wooden bar that would transform our backyard or living room into a virtual television studio.  The movies, when developed, would run only for several minutes and captured but a snapshot of the event to be commemorated.  Yet, however short their duration, these movies themselves have become a significant, fond part of my memories of those days.

 

What I recall best about the filming of those home movies was the flurry of activity that was produced.  The camera and lights prompted children to run and jump excitedly and adults – even the most stoic – to wave, smile, or otherwise acknowledge their presence.  From my experience in viewing home movies of the time taken by relatives and friends, the home movies of each family of that period could be those of virtually any other family, as the behaviors exhibited appear to have been universal in nature.

 

Of course, since that time, 8 millimeter movies have been replaced by Super 8 and, more recently, analog and digital video.  And, since video is shot and replayed over considerably longer periods of time than the old home movies, it lacks the displays of hyperactivity that, for me, are a large part of the appeal of their filmed predecessors.  Even so, the very presence of the video camera perceptibly alters the behaviors of its subjects.

 

As humans, we relish the attention of others – the camera representing just one of the forms by which attention might be paid.  When in the spotlight, most of us adhere to the adage “always put your best foot forward,” displaying our best behavior and attempting to look our best.  In the recognition of others, we experience a considerable degree of satisfaction.  The feeling of being “special” changes our behavior in ways that are – most often – beneficial. Philosophers and others interested in human behavior have been aware of the impact of attention on behavior for perhaps as long as man has roamed our planet. 

 

In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, experiments on productivity were conducted at the Hawthorne Works, a factory complex in Cicero, Illinois built by Western Electric for the manufacture of telephone equipment and other consumer products.  The initial experiments were for the purpose of determining optimal lighting conditions for production.  As they continued, however, their focus was shifted to other environmental and social conditions at the plant.

 

In conjunction with their expanded studies, researchers selected two employees and permitted those two to choose four additional workers to serve as subjects for experiments into the effect of changes on diverse variables in terms of worker and group productivity.  The results proved most interesting.  Changing a variable usually increased productivity, even if the change initiated was a reversion to a previous condition!  The researchers hypothesized that these contradictory results could be explained by the impact of the attention paid this group.  Selection of co-workers and separation from the general workforce provided this group with a sense of “specialness” not felt by other workers, enabling them to work cohesively and cooperatively as a team.  In deference to these studies, psychologists and social scientists coined the phrase “Hawthorne effect” to explain this phenomenon.

 

The existence of the Hawthorne effect comes as no surprise to most people, even the most casual observers of human nature.  Parents, teachers, and – for that matter – all thinking people can attest to its validity.  When our actions are observed, we are all much more likely to behave in ways that would gain the approval of those observing us.

 

Thus, the Hawthorne effect bespeaks, perhaps, our strongest argument for transparency in all human interactions, be they personal, social, commercial, or governmental.  The spotlight beckons us to display the best of ourselves and – in so doing – behave in ways that advance our mutual interests.  May that beacon continue to shine for the betterment of us all.