What concept did Mayo's Hawthorne experiments illustrate?

• A. Pay raises are the main driver of productivity
• B. Productivity improves only with automation
• C. Productivity changes only with higher supervision
• D. The Hawthorne effect is a change in behavior when faced with new or increased attention

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is that people change their behavior when they know they are being observed or given extra attention. In Mayo’s Hawthorne studies, productivity rose not mainly because of changes in lighting or automation, but because the workers received attention, feedback, and a sense of being valued and watched. This showed that social factors, morale, and management attention can influence performance just as much as physical conditions. So the key concept is that the Hawthorne effect describes a change in behavior when faced with new or increased attention. The other ideas—that pay rises, automation, or more supervision alone drive productivity—don’t capture this behavioral response to observation and attention.