A person behaves as others think of him, does what is expected of him. And how often in the lives of many people there are situations the outcome of which they manage to predict with almost 100% accuracy. At such moments, the terms “intuition” or “clairvoyance” come to mind. The question is spinning in my head: “How could I know this?” Despite the fact that many of the capabilities of our brain have not been studied, the principle of intuition has been partially solved . This phenomenon is called the Pygmalion effect.
What is the Pygmalion effect?
The Pygmalion effect is a psychological phenomenon according to which a person unconsciously predetermines the outcome of a situation by his expectations regarding a given situation. In a broader sense, this phenomenon is called a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” This phenomenon is observed in all sciences and spheres of human activity, since people tend to adjust their behavior in accordance with their own and others’ expectations.
The meaning of the psychological phenomenon under consideration is that a person’s expectations (positive or negative) are most likely justified. The Pygmalion (or Rosenthal) effect does not imply mystical relationships, since the person himself involuntarily makes efforts in the right direction. He believes that he knows the outcome, so he prepares for it and takes actions that seem logical to him.
Typically this effect involves the following chain of events:
- A person gains confidence in a certain outcome.
- Unconsciously, he carries out actions that bring him closer.
- He perceives the behavior and reactions of others differently.
- Thanks to his actions, expectations are met.
- The person says to himself: “Everything turned out as I thought!”
In most cases, the Pygmalion effect is a typical self-fulfilling prophecy. Initially, such a prophecy is far from reality. But people begin to act in accordance with their own expectations, as a result of which it comes true. It is important to understand that the actors themselves are not aware of their own influence on the situation. It seems to them that the prophecy has come true on its own.
Block 3. Expectations. Truncated model of the world.
Expectations do not always imply processes of change in the surrounding world that are growing non-stop. If the events that occur do not correspond to the expectations of the subject, the latter may experience a condition known as cognitive dissonance , when a discrepancy occurs between the information received about the state of the environment and its own expectations built into the idea of the environment.
People's expectations are related to the information that is directly available. The total amount of human knowledge significantly exceeds the amount of information that the subject currently has at his disposal. This is due to limitations in the course of physiological reactions in the human central nervous system.
You can read an interesting article about the human brain and consciousness here: Human Consciousness and Brain. 5 characteristics. 13 facts. The science.
And there is a lot of interesting stuff here: Brain and psyche. From Descartes to the Human Brain Project! Scientific approach.
The cognitive model of the world assumes the most complete picture of the world, while expectations are often based on a truncated model of the world. A person can be cognitively competent, i.e. understands a specific issue, but at the moment he is showing stupidity and is unable to resolve the issue in an adequate way. Accordingly, a person’s expectations on the same issue at different moments of his personal life, after mastering knowledge, may differ, both in the overestimated direction and in the underestimated direction. In fact, such a situation as “truncation” of the world model is a very common phenomenon and means that at a given local point this is a personal cognitive model of the world. It is smaller than it was yesterday, for example, but now there is simply no other one, which means expectations are built based on this fact.
The cognitive model of the world is not a constant value, not a static phenomenon, but a constantly changing, dynamic system. At any given time, it is different from its previous version. At the same time, the previous version may be either more complete or less rich. And only the subject’s ability to control his attention, fixing it on perception or thinking, makes it possible to reduce the number of “failures” in the model and avoid “truncated knowledge.”
You can read an interesting article about thinking at the link: What is thinking in cognitive psychology and why is an idea not a thought?
Personal attention is the most powerful and primary resource of help.
Read an article about attention here: What is attention and why do psychologists call it the spotlight of consciousness?
WATCH THE VIDEO “Negotiations. How to overcome objections?!”
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How does the Pygmalion effect manifest itself?
In real life, this phenomenon is often associated with mystical expectations. For example, a fortune teller tells a guy that he will soon meet his destiny. And so he, anticipating the long-awaited meeting, begins to take more careful care of himself. He dresses better, shaves diligently and behaves more refined. He also smiles warmly at every stranger he likes, looking into her eyes with interest. And thanks to this behavior, he soon actually meets a nice girl.
Interestingly, the Pygmalion effect is often found among scientists who are not at all inclined to believe in mystical relationships. It can occur in any science, at all stages of an experiment that people can influence. Even if a direct influence on the phenomenon under study is impossible, it directly depends on people how the data obtained will be interpreted or systematized, what parallels and relationships will be identified when processing the results.
This effect is very pronounced in children. A child who is regularly praised for his academic achievements gains self-confidence and learns better. If you convince him that he is an incapable student, then from now on his grades will be appropriate. Moreover, already in childhood it is possible to “program” a person’s fate, convincing him that a great future awaits him or that, on the contrary, he will grow up to be a loser.
First impression
The Pygmalion effect is also remarkable because it can work in the other direction. That is, if we manage to convince others of our uniqueness, competence, effectiveness, etc., people will believe in us as much as we do ourselves. They will evaluate us through the prism of our positive qualities and will not notice our mistakes and shortcomings. Sometimes people's faith becomes so strong that they begin to attribute non-existent qualities to another person, and will attribute all his failures and mistakes to circumstances and unfortunate coincidences.
We all know many examples where the Pygmalion effect worked in the opposite direction. In any class there is an unconditional leader, a leader, to whom even serious offenses are forgiven. In every team there is an authoritative employee who is favored by management, colleagues listen to his opinion, and minor offenses are forgiven. And all thanks to the impression these people make on others.
When you first meet a team, be it school, a new job or family, it is very important to make a good impression so that those around you understand or feel that this person loves and respects himself, he is confident in his abilities and inspires trust. Why is this so important? It's simple - people tend to treat other people based on the first moments of acquaintance, if in the future we ourselves do not spoil the effect of the first impression. The first meeting makes a certain impression, which will be strengthened and work, despite other external factors.
How did the term come about?
The Pygmalion effect was discovered by the American psychologist Robert Rosenthal (which is why in the professional literature it is usually called the Rosenthal effect). The discoverer himself named the discovered phenomenon in honor of the famous mythical character.
According to myth, the brilliant sculptor Pygmalion from the island of Crete once carved an ivory statue so beautiful that he himself fell in love with it. He dressed her in luxurious clothes and gave her expensive gifts. Seeing such love, Aphrodite revived the statue, who became the sculptor’s wife and bore him three children.
This beautiful ancient Greek myth symbolizes the power of faith and persistent desire. Therefore, it was in honor of the fictional sculptor that Rosenthal named the phenomenon he discovered.
The most notable are two experiments confirming the existence of the Rosenthal effect. Let's take a closer look at them.
the power of dreams
Self-confidence has more than once helped people achieve the impossible. People who are positive and confident that they will be able to achieve a goal or cope with troubles most often find opportunities to implement plans. This happens because they do not relax, do not look for reasons to feel sorry for themselves, but stubbornly strive for their goal. Often, a person who is confident in his abilities is an example for other people.
Believing in yourself is only a step towards fulfilling your desires; the remaining steps are responsibility, hard work, control over your life. No matter how much we like to believe in fairy tales, in real life only we ourselves can become the good fairies or the villains of our own stories.
First experiment – “Pygmalion in the classroom”
The first of the famous experiments was carried out by the discoverer himself, together with Lenore Jacobson in 1965, to demonstrate what the Pygmalion effect is in practice. The results of the work were published in 1968 under the title “Pygmalion in the Classroom.”
The experiment was conducted among high school students in San Francisco. The children took an IQ test and some of them randomly overestimated. Teachers were surprised by such indicators, since the selected students showed very mediocre academic progress. Psychologists responded that the children had not yet proven themselves, but would soon demonstrate their true potential.
When the scientists came to the school at the end of the year, it turned out that the experiment participants they had selected were now the best students in the class. After re-testing, they found that the IQ of the “selected” students had increased significantly. Thus, Rosenthal and Jacobson demonstrated how much student success depends on how much teachers believe in their abilities.
Subsequently, based on this study, a program was proposed to stimulate the development of children using similar methods. But it turned out to be unsuccessful, since it was impossible to provide the necessary conditions. The fact is that in the original study, the decisive factor was the conviction of the teachers themselves that the children chosen by psychologists were gifted.
Second experiment - “Programmed sympathy”
In 1986, Rebecca Curtis and Kim Miller published the results of another study that explains well what the Pygmalion effect is. Its participants were students who initially did not know each other. They were randomly paired up and had to just hang out for a while. At the same time, some randomly selected participants were “warned” that their interlocutor liked them. Others were told that the interlocutor had antipathy towards them.
The results of the experiment were predictable. Students who were initially confident that their interlocutor already liked them communicated more affably and perceived their partner positively. They were more outspoken, diligently looking for common interests and views. But the most interesting thing is that the confidence of one person led to the fact that the second (who did not receive any “warnings” at all) after the conversation really felt strong sympathy for him.
Block 1. Expectations. Definition.
Expectation is a constructed internal mental plan in the form of a scenario of future events, to one degree or another comparable with conditional objective reality.
Expectation is closely related to attitude. Expectations of events are directed to the future and are associated with the following factors from the past:
- There have been similar events in the past.
- There are reasons for the development of such events.
- There is a source for such events.
- Such events did not exist in the past, but they can be simulated taking into account the logic of the processes.
Expectations include answers to the following questions:
- What events will happen?
- Under what conditions can this happen?
- In what order will this happen?
- When will this happen?
- Who will this happen to?
- What elements will these events consist of?
- Where will this happen?
- What is the connection between the events?
Expectations are the building of a cause-and-effect relationship between a chain of events. At the same time, expectations also provide for “miracles” when the chain is disconnected somewhere, because it is not understood by the subject, and the occurrence of the desired event, despite this, is expected. And these are human illusions, but more on that later.
Practical meaning
The Rosenthal effect is not just a psychological phenomenon of interest to researchers. It influences the life of almost every person. Most often you may encounter the following manifestations:
- Self-esteem and success
. People suffering from low self-esteem experience serious difficulties with career growth. It is more difficult for them to arrange their personal life and make good friends. They themselves believe that they are not worthy of success in life. And those around you feel it, reacting accordingly. Inflated self-esteem acts in the opposite way. A self-confident person moves up the career ladder faster, effortlessly becomes the “life of the party” and enjoys success with the opposite sex. - The importance of attitude in medicine
. The attitude of the doctor and the patient plays a big role in the treatment process. If both are initially committed to a positive outcome, the likelihood of its occurrence increases significantly. But a negative attitude may well lead to the opposite effect. That is why doctors always strive to convince the patient and his relatives of a favorable outcome of any treatment. - Teacher's attitude and student's success
. If a teacher initially treats a student with disdain, this significantly reduces the student’s performance. At school, this attitude on the part of teachers also leads to problems with the behavior of children. Usually a child is inclined to believe adults, so he accepts the image of a slacker and a hooligan imposed on him. Thanks to this effect, students who are initially liked by teachers demonstrate higher academic success and diligent behavior.
With a good understanding of what the Pygmalion effect is and how it works, you will be able to notice many more of its manifestations in real life. Thus, the successes of subordinates often depend on the expectations of their superiors, and parents largely determine the fate of their own children, convincing them at an early age that they are talented (or, conversely, untalented). Perhaps you yourself have encountered a situation where you were able to do something incredibly difficult only thanks to 100% confidence in success.
Recommendations
So, the promised recommendations that will help you achieve your goals:
Praise
There is a stereotype that praise can relax a person. Therefore, it is imperative to spur him on, pointing out his shortcomings, so that he does not become lazy and arrogant. Rosenthal's discovery points us to the opposite effect. This is what happens when a child from a dysfunctional family is told that nothing good will grow out of him?
Most likely, he will unconsciously meet the expectations of others. They don’t expect much from him, so why bother? But what if someone sees some peculiarity in it? Or will he simply believe in advance that the boy will be able to cope with the circumstances and grow up to be a worthy person? He will carry this faith within himself for many years, because they believed in him, which means he can do it.
Support your loved ones, your children and of course yourself. Do not skimp on warm and pleasant words. The belief that a person is capable of much is actually the key to success. In addition, a good attitude towards other people, even if it is not justified by social standards, can bring good dividends. When communicating with you, a person will show himself exactly as you see him.
Rationality
Do not believe in the dire predictions of others. Submit other people's fantasies to logic, discuss their reality. And if, however, you understand that there is a high probability that they will come true, look for ways to prevent them from becoming reality. As well as resources to rely on.
I’ll give you one life example: my mother, being dissatisfied with her son-in-law due to his problems with alcohol, reminded her daughter at every opportunity that she needed to look after her son so that he would not follow in his father’s footsteps. What do you think was transmitted to the child in this case? That he is just as weak, unable to cope with stress and withstand problems. As a result, he, of course, lived up to his grandmother's expectations and his mother's fears.
Such stories, unfortunately, are not uncommon. Therefore, do not lose your vigilance and rationality when someone predicts a negative future for you or your family and important people. No one really knows what will happen, we can only speculate. And only you have the right to choose life prospects, because it is from your actions that this future is formed.
High expectations
John Livingston, a professor at Harvard Business School, believes the Rosenthal effect is a secret weapon with which you can influence people. He found that if management believes that subordinates can cope with a task of any level of complexity, quickly and skillfully, they will actually demonstrate professionalism in their work.
But he will expect more from others only if he is doing well with his own self-esteem. Anyone who doesn't believe in themselves can't expect their employees to do anything worthwhile.
One thing is important. Setting completely unrealistic goals for yourself or your employees means causing disappointment and reducing motivation to act. Maintain a balance in demands and expectations.
If you realize that you are not succeeding, think about whether you are receiving recognition of your abilities from your superiors? Activities under the leadership of, so to speak, weak managers, directors, affect the efficiency of work. To the point that the employee loses his professional stability and does not develop. Although, for example, at the beginning of his career he was considered quite promising.
