Negative Golem or Pygmalion effect: what it is and how it affects

When an adult expresses negative expectations about a child, it can influence him, to the point that the little one ends up acting in life as it is “expected” of him. To respond to the expectations of his environment, a child will become unruly, bad or a bad student, if the adults around you are always rating you this way. This is called the Golem effect.

What is the Golem Effect or Negative Pygmalion

The effect that in psychology we call Golem or negative Pygmalion refers to the fact that, from the first days of life, the words that are addressed to children (in the family environment and also in the school environment) are shaping their personality.

If the adults who care for them speak to them tenderly, with respect and kind words that describe them in a positive way, these little ones grow up with high self-esteem, with a strong and positive self-concept, and, throughout their lives, They will try to become the best version of themselves.However, if the words that children receive are negative, they disqualify them and, in addition, they hang harmful personality traits, These little ones grow up conditioned by the low expectations of their environment and, to fulfill the prophecy of their elders, they stunt their development and act the way they are told they are.

These disqualified and demoralized children will never fight to develop their full potential and abilities.

To explain it, I am going to use the case of Alberto as an example, a gifted child who was 10 years old when he came to see me. he was bored in class because I was tired of seeing the same issues year after year. He didn’t feel stimulated.

Fruit of your boredom He did not stop distracting his companions, he spoke to them or asked them to lend him a pencil, to tell him the time, etc. His attitude was generating a reputation for him as a problematic child, since, in addition to entertaining his classmates, He kept interrupting the normal development of the class.

His teachers, who already had him typecast as disruptive, they anticipated what he might do and scolded him when there was a disturbance in the classroom, even if he hadn’t done it. In addition, they did not stop making his attitude ugly and disqualifying him in front of his classmates, which was also problematic and humiliating for the child.

The Golem Effect acts as a loop

In the case of Alberto, as often happens, the situation discouraged him more and more. His performance began to drop. His teachers blamed it on his lack of attention and bad behavior in class, but They did not understand that their prejudices and harmful comments were influencing the little one and that their words. They were forcing him to act in a negative way to meet the low expectations they had of him.

When they came to my office, Alberto’s parents hoped that, with the start of the new academic year, their son would be able to start his relationship with his new teachers from scratch and that this would alleviate the bad reputation with which he had carried during the previous course.

However, his hopes were dashed when a teacher, who was taking roll on the first day of class to meet the students, told him: “So you are the famous Albertito.”

According to reports, in the meetings prior to the start of the course, the teachers from the previous year had warned the current ones about Alberto’s “bad behavior” and had conditioned them to judge him before even meeting him. In this case, the Golem effect carried over from one course to another.

What to do to stop the loop of the Golem effect?

Following my advice, the parents immediately went to talk to the tutor and counselor to complain about the situation their son was suffering. In addition, I wrote a report on Alberto’s High Capabilities and their special needs for adequate emotional support and an intellectual stimulus different from that of their peers.

Fortunately, the teachers were receptive and changed their point of view about Alberto, encouraging him in his tasks and supporting him in his needs, which helped the little one take the course with renewed enthusiasm and give the best of himself.

Unfortunately, this does not happen in most cases and many children (and adults) miss out on their potential because of the Golem effect.

Taking care of our words is an act of responsibility that we adults have towards the little ones. Whether at home, at school or in any environment, we must move away from negative qualifications and prejudices that discourage children and push them to become a version of themselves that is not real, that is only the reflection of harmful expectations loaded with prejudices.