The Hawthorne Effect

I've always had strong opinions on music, and yes, I do occasionally get up on a soapbox and call out individual musicians and performers when I see something glaringly wrong with what they are doing or expressing. But lately I've been fascinated by another aspect of music culture.

The thought is something like this:

What would these performers be doing if we weren't watching them? 

I doubt Britney Spears dream was to be a sex object at the age of 16, but that's what she became. Why? Because the audience expected it, and she, her managers, and her parents all knew it. If she had it her way she would have been saving up to buy a car, getting into 16 year old girl mischief, and worrying about her Algebra 2 exams, but instead she was transformed into a caricature of herself for our entertainment only to be discarded like a broken toy when she inevitably snapped. All because she was being observed.

I've been pondering this for awhile, but Wednesday night I was watching Mike Rowe's excellent new show Somebody's Gotta Do It, and he mentioned the observer effect. He was of course referring to a group of chickens refusing to eat their vegetables because of the presence of cameras, and he used the words Observer Effect, but I think what he really meant was The Hawthorne Effect.

The physics version of the observer effect that he mentioned states that the mere act of observing something fundamentally changes that something. The Hawthorne Effect however refers specifically to the behavioral change of subjects who have become aware that they are being observed. It's a term commonly used in the business world (think about how your behavior changes when the manager walks over to your cubicle to see if you're worth keeping), but his mention of this made me snap back to my thoughts about music and performance culture.

Would Britney Spears hang around her house in a metal bikini with a boa constrictor around her neck for fun?

Yes?

Okay, bad example. Would Lady Gaga wear a dress made of meat if she weren't being observed? You might think she's crazy and that this one is more obvious than the Britney quesiton, but the answer is no. She's actually a talented singer and pianist who used to perform very intimate 90's sounding alternative sets to very small crowds. She only changed so people would take note. She fundamentally changed her behavior because the more she modified her behavior, the more the audience looked at her.

There are exceptions. Australian singer Sia does kind of a reverse Hawthorne Effect in that she will not face the crowd and rarely stands up from her Piano for the sake of the purity of her art. She refuses to modify her behavior and intentionally remains obscure, shunning observation for fear that she will not be able to be herself when exposed to the curious, demanding eyes of others.

Another, more recently relevant example is Nick Wallenda, who walked a tight rope, blindfolded between two Chicago apartment buildings over 600 feet in the air. Did he do this because he is "passionate about it" as he (and every other idiot who has ever done something stupid while advertisers pay premium rates for network segment) states, or did he do this because Discovery channel did a special and millions of people were watching?

To me the answer is in the question. This man did not wake up on a Saturday morning and think to himself, I want to challenge God and put my wife and children through unimaginable emotional trauma "for my passion". No. He did it with millions of Americans watching and with dramatic music as a backdrop while talking head commentators reminded us for two hours how dangerous it was and how amazing he is for attempting it. Had the cameras not been there, Nick would not have been there.

What's the point? Oh, you thought I was driving this to an end? Not at all, I'm just sharing some thoughts I've been having with you. It's like shopping for a car. If you know what car you want, you'll see more of that car on the road. Right now I'm thinking about The Observer Effect and The Hawthorne Effect, so I'm seeing them everywhere.

I will say this though, if we, the audience are causing these behaviors and we do see something wrong with them, then according to that logic the only way to fix those behaviors is to stop watching.

Happy Friday!