The Pygmalion effect

The Pygmalion effect

“When we expect certain behaviors of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behavior more likely to occur.”

The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect, is the phenomenon whereby higher expectations lead to an increase in performance. The effect is named after the Greek myth of Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved, or alternately, after the Rosenthal–Jacobson study.

Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson's study showed that, if teachers were led to expect enhanced performance from children, then the children's performance was enhanced.

This study supported the hypothesis that reality can be positively or negatively influenced by the expectations of others, called the observer-expectancy effect.

Rosenthal argued that biased expectancies could affect reality and create self-fulfilling prophecies.

Leader expectations of the employee may alter leader behavior.

This behavior that is expressed toward an employee can affect the behaviors of the employee in favor of the leader's expectations.

The more an employee is engaged in learning activities, the higher the expectation is from the leader. In turn, the employee participates in more learning behavior.

Leaders will show more leader behaviors such as leader-member exchange (trust, respect, obligation, etc.), setting specific goals, and allowing for more learning opportunities for employees, and giving employees feedback.

These factors were brought about by Rosenthal's model of the Pygmalion effect.

“If thousands upon thousands of children are not learning to read, write, speak and compute, it is not because of overcrowded classrooms, the effects of poverty and social conditions, poorly developed educational programs and materials and inadequately trained teachers. No, the children are not learning because the teachers don’t expect them to learn.”

Have you experienced that before?

Have you done that before?

Would you like to try that sometime?

Thank you for reading and your time, as always!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!