Foundations of sand?

Christian Jarrett

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Chiesa and Hobbs sampled over two hundred books published between 1953 and 2003 and found an astonishingly broad range of uses for the term ‘Hawthorne effect’, with many such meanings actually contradicting each other. In some cases the term was used to imply that simply being the subject of an investigation can enhance workers’ performance. Elsewhere the term was used more specifically, to refer to the presence of a ‘warm climate’, the ‘presence of an observer’, ‘concern’ or merely ‘friendly supervision’. Moreover, there were widespread inconsistencies in how the effects were supposed to exert their influence, with some accounts suggesting an unconscious effect, while others pointed to ‘feelings of pride’ or ‘job satisfaction’.
Chiesa says she first became interested in the Hawthorne effect after hearing the same comment over and over in response to research she was involved in. ‘Finally, when I was asked by a journal editor to respond to “the potential criticism that our findings were an example of the Hawthorne effect” I thought it was time to have a closer look,’ she says. ‘That was when I discovered that just about everything and anything was speculated to cause improvement in human performance.’
Hobbs says he thinks a key part of the problem causing the perpetuation of myths in general and of the Hawthorne effect in particular is people’s reliance on secondary sources. ‘People read something, don’t question it and that then leads to poor quality knowledge. The concept is appealing, but there’s this reification – once something’s got a name it somehow seems more concrete and real.’
He adds that the rise of the internet may have added to this problem, especially as it makes it so much harder to gauge the veracity of a source. ‘When I was a student you looked at the Daily Express and at a journal and there was a clear difference – you’re setting out with assumptions about what the standards are. But now you can get websites that look neat and clean but the content is pretty much valueless.’

Putting psychology on the couch

Other sciences certainly do have their own myths – just think of the story of Newton and the falling apple or Archimedes leaping out of the bath following his Eureka insight. Perhaps myths just seem more prominent in psychology because we tend to talk and write about our science in terms of studies rather than facts. Certainly the work of Mary Smyth at Lancaster University would appear to be consistent with this view – she has compared psychology and biology textbooks and found that psychology appears to have comparatively few taken-for-granted facts. Instead, numerous experiments are described in detail, lending scientific credence to any factual claims being made.
Related to this, there’s no doubt that the actual subject matter of psychology plays a part too – there’s that ever-present pressure to demonstrate that psychological findings are more than mere common sense. Benjamin Harris says that historians have described psychology as putting a scientific gloss on the accepted social wisdom of the day. ‘Psychology is always going to have a strong social component,’ he explains. ‘With psychological theories speaking to the human condition, there’s always going to be an appeal to myths that resonate more with experience than something coming out of the lab that’s sterile and ultra scientific.’
Another role that myths play is to reinforce the empirical legitimacy of psychology and to create a sense of a shared knowledge base. ‘In this way, tales such as of Kitty Genovese or Little Albert are rather like origin myths, pushing the creation of psychology, or a particular approach within psychology back in time, thus giving an air of greater authority,’ says Harris.
Hobbs agrees: ‘It’s nice to have something that you can take for granted,’ he says. ‘In the case of the Hawthorne effect and other myths, you shouldn’t take it for granted, but it’s comforting to be able to say “Oh, this could be the Hawthorne effect” and for others to nod and say “Ah yes, that’s right”.’
But if, as we’ve seen, these myths are harmful to psychology – for example, inhibiting potential fruitful lines of research, or leading to meaningless criticisms of submitted papers – then shouldn’t we be doing more to set the record straight? Harris is philosophical: ‘The more time I spend studying the history of psychology, the more I just enjoy standing on the sideline and watching psychologists argue about the myths – that itself becomes part of the interesting history of the science,’ he says. ‘You get to see how psychologists’ understanding of human nature has its fashions, it’s always dynamic.’
Hobbs, though, thinks we should be doing more. ‘There isn’t any sense of a field of study looking at the myths of psychology and I think that’s regrettable.
I think if there were it would make people be more on their guard.’

Dr Christian Jarrett is The Psychologist’s staff journalist. chrber@bps.org.uk

This article originally appeared in “The Psychologist”, published by the British Psychological Society. For more, and to subscribe, see www.thepsychologist.org.uk

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