In this article you will know what is the pygmalion effectwhat is its origin, its types and how to use it to improve the performance of those around you.
In all work, school and family groups, the perception they have of each other is of vital importance. Imagine a teacher who thinks that a student is “slow” and has few abilities. That student realizes what the teacher thinks, through his attitude or with simple looks of “disappointment”, and will probably believe that he is “slow” and his performance will be negative.
The same can happen with the opinion of a father about his son, or with that of a boss about his subordinate. This effect is known by the name of pygmalion effect. But let’s take a closer look at what it is…
What is the Pygmalion Effect
The pygmalion effect is a psychological phenomenon in which an individual’s performance is potentially influenced by the expectations of others.
It is also known as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Robert K. Merton narrowed the term and defined it as a false definition of the situation, which evokes behavior that makes the originally false conception come true.
A clear example of the self-fulfilling prophecy is the placebo effect, which occurs when a person experiences beneficial results because they expect a “similar” substance or treatment to work, even though it has no known medical effect.
Origin of the Pygmalion effect
The pygmalion effect was discovered by Robert Rosenthal, a renowned American psychologist, in his study conducted in 1964. Although the pygmalion effect is also known as the Rosenthal effect, he created the name based on the sculpture of Pygmalion from Greek mythology.
Pygmalion, King of Cyprus, wanted a wife whose beauty would do justice to his high expectations. Realizing that it would be impossible to find such a beautiful woman, he decided to sculpt a statue that reflected what he wanted. Upon finishing it, he fell in love with her and named her Galatea.
The king pleaded with the goddess Venus to give Galatea life and his wish was granted. Cold ivory lips turned warm and skinny, and Galatea fell in love with her maker.
Types of Pygmalion effect
The influence of the pygmalion effect gives rise to 2 types:
positive pygmalion
Positive expectations about the subject make it improve its performance and achieve results according to expectations.
negative pygmalion
Also known as the Golem effect, it occurs when what the subject perceives from others, about himself, is negative and he becomes convinced that he does not have enough to achieve better results. And ultimately, he doesn’t get them.
How to use the pygmalion effect at work
By now you know the positive and negative scope of the pygmalion effect. So how to take advantage of it?
If you have a work team, or if you dream of having one one day, it is essential that you keep everyone’s motivation to the fullest. And although it is difficult to change the expectations we have, we can change our behavior in the face of expectations.
To achieve this, it is recommended to do the following:
- Create an environment where everyone feels you trust them. A warm environment will not let some feel that you expect less of them and will deliver better results as a result.
- If any team member is an exceptional performer, assign them more demanding tasks; In this way, your expectations of him or her will not be much higher than others.
- On the other hand, if you see that a member is not at the level of the others, you should not despair and think of firing him, you should have a “special” treatment. Set aside time to meet with him or her and give feedback on what you think of her work. Do not let a bad face or a bad look from you be the cause of a demoralized member who does not perform well.
conclusions
To the extent that we are more careful with our actions, we can enhance the performance of our children, students and workers. The pygmalion effect shows us that much of their good or bad performance can be influenced by us, so why not help them to be better?
I hope this information will be of great help to you 🙂
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