What Is the Pygmalion Effect? | Meaning & Examples
The Pygmalion effect describes how high expectations of someone tend to lead to better performance, while lower expectations have the opposite effect.
The Pygmalion effect was originally identified by psychologists Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson in classroom settings. But it is also applied to studies in business, sport, and management.
Sean, on the other hand, is given more basic tasks, and the teacher doesn’t give them the attention they need when they struggle with these tasks. As a result, Adil makes significant improvement, while Sean’s improvement is much less marked.
The teacher’s high expectations affected the way they worked with each student, which had a knock-on effect on the progress they made.
The Pygmalion effect is also called the Rosenthal effect after one of the researchers in the original study.
What is the Pygmalion effect?
In psychology, the Pygmalion effect describes how positive or negative expectations of an individual or group can affect their performance (e.g., a teacher’s high expectations of their students can raise the students’ performance). It can also have negative consequences on research outcomes if the researchers unconsciously have different expectations of different groups of subjects.
The main proposal of the effect is that if a teacher, authority figure, leader, or mentor has high expectations of us, then we will work hard to meet those expectations. The implication is that the more that is expected of us, the better we perform.
There are applications for the Pygmalion effect outside of the classroom, and its effects can be seen in business and other fields. For example, a sales manager’s high expectations of their team will lead them to perform better than a team whose manager has lower expectations, even if the teams have equal levels of skill and experience.
In medical research, the consequences of the Pygmalion effect can be quite serious. A researcher with high expectations of a treatment group of patients compared with the control group will probably see better outcomes for those patients. This is why the best medical research uses randomized double-blind trials, so none of the researchers know who is in the control group and who is in the treatment group.
So the idea that high expectations can produce high performance was linked by Rosenthal and Jacobson to Pygmalion.
Pygmalion effect examples
The Pygmalion effect can be observed in other fields such as business.
In your interviews with the players, you discover that they are deeply aware of the fans’ discontent and that, they are increasingly doubting themselves as the bad results have gotten worse.
The coach has also started humiliating specific players in the locker room, which has only made the self-doubt worse. The players start each game expecting to underperform, and they are almost always right.
You realize that in order to improve, the team members need to regain belief in themselves as individuals and together. You start by encouraging the coach (who also now has low expectations of themself) to praise the positives and to promote high expectations of each game.
How does the Pygmalion effect work?
The Pygmalion effect is an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. High expectations lead to high performance, which in turn leads to high expectations, and so on.
This happens because we tend to take the labels other people put on us and internalize them. Unconsciously, we try to conform to those labels, both positive and negative.
The circular nature of a self-fulfilling prophecy is as follows:
- Another person’s expectations of us influence the way they behave toward us.
- That behavior then influences our own view of ourselves.
- Our own behavior is then affected by how we see ourselves.
- The other person’s opinion of us is confirmed by our behavior, and the cycle continues.
To see how this circular relationship works in practice, let’s look at how it explains what goes on in a school classroom. There are four main ways in which a teacher conveys their expectations to their students:
- Atmosphere is the environment developed and maintained in the classroom by the teacher. Their expectations are communicated by the classroom layout, its displays, and the interactions with the students. An attentive teacher who shows the students that they are being listened to and understood creates a positive atmosphere.
- Feedback describes how the teacher responds to students. When a teacher has high expectations, they will likely give positive, encouraging feedback, including praise and practical advice for improvement.
- Input is what the teacher puts into the interactions with the students. Are they intentional, positive, and targeted at challenging and improving the students’ performance?
- Output is the student’s contribution, and a teacher with high expectations will encourage frequent contributions from the students.
Ms. Gill consistently reinforces her belief in the students by reminding them of how well they can perform in the coming end-of-year test. Every student is engaged by her, and she is careful to correct mistakes and praise good work.
Because the students are constantly reminded of Ms. Gill’s high expectations of them, they work hard, which results in improved outcomes. This further bolsters their confidence. The students’ success in turn boosts Ms. Gill’s expectations, and the virtuous circle continues.
Why is the Pygmalion effect important?
There are various reasons for paying attention to the Pygmalion effect in a number of settings:
- Awareness of the Pygmalion effect can help managers in business understand how and why their teams perform like they do. It can also help to explain why some team members are better or worse than their colleagues at certain tasks. This is particularly useful if it becomes apparent that a manager’s unconscious bias is affecting how they deal with their subordinates.
- The Pygmalion effect mostly works on an unconscious level, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be put to good use. Sports coaches, teachers, and business leaders can all use it to analyze their practice and improve performance by expressing high expectations of their protégés.
- The effects of applying the principles uncovered by the Pygmalion effect can have far-reaching positive consequences across whole departments or teams.
Frequently asked questions about the Pygmalion effect
- What is the Rosenthal effect?
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The Rosenthal effect is another name for the Pygmalion effect. It describes how a teacher, leader, or coach can improve the performance of those they are leading by consistently having, and expressing, high expectations of them.
It is named after one of the researchers (Lenore Jacobson and Robert Rosenthal) who first described the effect. In short, it shows how low expectations of others can lead them to perform badly, while high expectations can lead to higher performance.
- What is the observer-expectancy effect?
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The observer-expectancy effect is a cognitive bias referring to the tendency of researchers inadvertently influencing their study participants. It can contain elements of the Pygmalion effect as well as the halo or horn effects. It is also related to the idea of self-fulfilling prophecies, which can have either a positive or negative impact.
This is one of the reasons that experimental design is so important in the crafting of a research proposal, to reduce the risk that this effect will color the eventual results.
