Pygmalion Effect: Expectations Decide The Outcome

The Pygmalion effect is a powerful weapon one can use to nudge others towards success. The expectations can influence performance for better or worse.

What is the Pygmalion effect?

When others’ expectations influence an individual’s performance, it is the pygmalion effect. In short, higher expectations lead to higher performance. The development shows how our expectations of others affect our behavior towards them. It leads people to contribute more and perform better. People tend to perform up to the level that others expect of them.

In studies, the Pygmalion effect was first asserted and examined by understanding the relationship between teachers and students. For example, when the teacher expects her student to do well in the exams, the expectations influence the behavior of the teacher and the student. It is the Pygmalion effect in action.

The teacher will spend more time with the student to explain her topic clearly. She might even give more incredible feedback when presented with an incorrect answer. The expectations of the teacher affect the student’s academic progress.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

The effect clearly explains that people tend to perform to the level others expect. Thus our relationships are usually self-fulfilling prophecies. Once our expectations for somebody are set, that person will manage to live up to our expectations, whether good or bad. A positive expectation will influence performance positively and negative expectations negatively.

The effect doesn’t justify having unrealistic expectations of other people. The anticipation of miracles is a recipe for frustration on both sides. The contradiction of the Pygmalion effect is that having high expectations of people produces better results, and it is also likely that you will get disappointed. If you are evaluating someone, remember to estimate as objectively as possible.

The Pygmalion effect is a tendency named after Pygmalion, the protagonist of a Greek myth.

Pygmalion was a gifted sculptor who made a woman statue so perfect that he fell in love with his creation. Later he desperately prayed to the goddess of love, Aphrodite, and she took pity on him by bringing the statue to life. Thus, the effect clearly explains why all our relationships are self-fulfilling prophecies.

Some of the Key Points  

1. Our expectations highly influence how we treat people, which can control their expectations.
2. Low expectations mean we treat people differently from those with higher expectations.
3. We create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Low expectations create a hostile environment leading to bad performance. On the other hand, higher expectations create a positive and encouraging environment that leads to an excellent performance.

Conclusion

The Pygmalion effect is the phenomenon whereby higher expectation contributes to an increase in performance. The anticipation of teachers is a strong predictive relationship with student behavior. High expectation of teachers creates a better atmosphere for student learning. The Pygmalion effect significantly influences the student’s achievement and offers support to help students achieve their goals.

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