Summary

The Pygmalion effect is a psychological phenomenon where high expectations lead to improved performance, as evidenced by various social experiments and real-world examples.

Abstract

The article discusses the Pygmalion effect, a concept where individuals tend to perform better when they or others have high expectations of them. This effect is rooted in the story of Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with his creation and, through the intervention of Aphrodite, brought it to life. The article links the Pygmalion effect to self-fulfilling prophecies, which can be positive or negative depending on the expectations set. It emphasizes the importance of understanding this effect to positively influence others and oneself. The concept was first described as a self-fulfilling prophecy by sociologist Robert K. Merton in 1948, and later popularized in psychology by Robert Rosenthal's social experiments with school students. The article also provides practical advice on applying the Pygmalion effect in one's life by setting high expectations in areas of competence and working towards them. It concludes by affirming the power of positive expectations in shaping outcomes and the importance of supportive figures in fostering success.

Opinions

The author believes that the aim should be to prove our supporters right by fulfilling high expectations.
The article suggests that our beliefs and expectations can create a feedback loop that influences our behavior and achievements.
It is implied that figures of authority, like teachers and managers, have a significant impact on the performance of those they lead through their expectations and treatment.
The author advocates for self-experimentation with the Pygmalion effect as a means to self-realization and impactful change.
The article concludes with the notion that the Pygmalion effect is a powerful, research-backed tool for helping people succeed, from students to professionals.

The Pygmalion Effect.

Have you ever had high expectations of yourself and then found out that you have succeeded? Then you have stumbled upon the Pygmalion effect. This is a psychological phenomenon wherein high expectations lead to high performance in a particular activity.

It is named after Pygmalion, who was a mythical sculptor. He had created a statue so beautiful that he fell in love with it, he prayed to the goddess Aphrodite, she took pity and brought the statue to life, the couple married and went on to have a daughter named Paphos.

The idea of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies.

The Pygmalion effect and the Golem effect, where low expectations lead to decreased performance, are examples of self-fulfilling prophecies. Whether the expectations come from us or others they find a way to manifest in our lives.

You have to understand that many of us want to prove our critics wrong, I believe the aim should be to prove our supporters right. Understanding the Pygmalion effect is a powerful way to positively impact those around us, from our friends to our employees, if we don’t take into account the consequences of our beliefs and expectations we could be missing out on the benefits of holding high expectations.

The concept of self-fulfilling prophecy was discovered by the sociologist Robert K. Merton, he published the first paper on the topic in 1948, in it he describes that a false belief becomes true over time. Once this occurs, we create a feedback loop which gives us references to our beliefs from our past, for example, we assume that we are good at baking cake because our cake won first prize at the annual cake fair six months ago.

It has been described as self-hypnosis by our propaganda. Sigmund Freud vaguely hinted at the effect in his book A Childhood Memory of Goethe, where he states that “If a man has been his mother’s undisputed darling he retains throughout life the triumphant feeling, the confidence in success, which not seldom brings actual success with it.”

Proof of the Effect.

A social experiment by Robert Rosenthal popularised the effect and became one of the most discussed topics in psychology over the years to come. He started to test the I.Q of elementary school students and he told teachers that a fifth of their students had extreme intelligence, and the rest of the students were labelled as the control group because they were not as gifted. The catch here is that the gifted students were picked at random. After a while, the pupils were retested for their I.Q scores, the so-called “gifted” students experienced the highest gains in I.Q points. Rosenthal attributed this to the Pygmalion effect, as it was found that teachers paid more attention to the intelligent students, offering more support and encouragement than they would normally.

Figures of authority, such as teachers have the power to influence behaviours, leaders can facilitate changes by giving extra responsibility or taking away responsibility. If a manager thinks an employee is competent, they will treat them as such. The employee then takes on more challenges successfully and the managers give him more opportunities, which result in a positive feedback loop. Similarly, if we think a manager is successful, we will be more attentive and helpful to them.

The effect shows us that reality can be manipulated and negotiated with, what we achieve and how we behave is largely influenced by expectations of others and ourselves, the only catch is that we have to work and become capable at a task. After Rosental published these papers, many people became captivated by the idea that we are capable of more than what we think. While this may be true, we have to put in the work.

How to Apply it in Your Life.

To apply the effect practically, we must start by checking our assumptions, the expectations we have of people around us and the expectations that they hold of us, affect us in subtle ways. Although we rarely notice it, unless we have been victims of unfair bias such as racism or sexism, those expectations decide the opportunities we are offered and the life we live.

The Pygmalion effect happens in an instant, the beauty is that it is a rare blend of authentic proven and instantaneous change in an otherwise wishful and dishonest world of self-help. When we expect someone to perform well, we treat them that way, to use the effect practically you should pick a task that you are competent in and then pick a manageable challenge, during the challenge hold high expectations of yourself, if you succeed you have fulfilled your prophecy and created a positive reference.

The reason I have asked you to experiment on yourself is that self-experimentation leads to self-realisation which is the most impactful way of creating change. Remember to pick an activity which you have worked hard at and are good at doing. If you haven’t played tennis in years, don’t expect to win against Andy Murray by simply holding high expectations, it doesn’t work that way.

The Conclusion.

Teachers tend to show positive body language to the students they consider intelligent, who they expect to succeed. They may teach them in a better way, they may encourage them and help them for even the tiniest of problems. To quote Carl Sagan, “The visions we offer our children shape the future. It matters what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Dreams are maps.”

An example of this from my own life is the transformation of a bus driver from our school, this person decided to use his communication skills and knowledge of neighbourhoods to get into real estate, he enrolled in some classes and took a few courses before taking his exams to become a realtor, the teachers in his course were very supportive and eventually, he quit his job and is doing decently as a realtor. The students on his bus expected the driver to do well and the Pygmalion effect took place.

To conclude, the Pygmalion effect is a powerful tool, who wouldn’t want to help their children, or colleagues? You can do this by leveraging the power of the Pygmalion effect, It is not necessary to intervene, you can gently nudge people towards success. If it sounds too good to be true, firstly remember that it works for everyone from elementary school students to CEOs and secondly, there have been countless research documents proving the existence of the effect since 1948.