Pygmalion Effect: what it is, examples and its influence on people

What is the Pygmalion effect? It is a type of psychological relationship that is established between teachers and students. It refers to the teacher expectations influence in school performance of his students. Thus, teachers tend to offer those students who they prejudge as more capable a greater emotional supportclearer feedback on your progress, Better opportunities to develop, and put more effort into motivating them.

This effect, which was studied for the first time in the classroom, can also occur in other areas such as work or within love relationships. In this article, Llorenç Guilera, professor of basic, developmental and educational psychology at the UAB, analyzes the origin and implications of the Pygmalion effect.

Pygmalion effect: examples

In 1966, Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobsontwo researchers from the University of California (USA), carried out a experiment in eighteen elementary classrooms.

After giving the students a test, they told each teacher that 20% of his class members showed “unusual” potential for improvement of his intellectual capacity. It was to be expected that they would be the ones with the best performance at the end of the course. So it was. eight months later it was confirmed that the performance of this group had been greater than that of the rest.

So far, nothing that surprises us. The interesting thing is that actually the supposedly bright students had been chosen completely at randomregardless of their intelligence tests. What had happened?

It was shown that the performance of a student at the end of the course is greatly conditioned by the preconceived image that his teachers have formed of him at the beginning of the course.

Experiments with a very similar format have been repeated a large number of times and it has been possible to verify that, on the one hand, teachers pay more attention and offer greater support to students who prejudge as “better” and, on the other, who schoolchildren are applied very differently according to the way in which they feel valued by educators.

Pygmalion effect: positive and negative

This name comes from the play Pygmalionby Bernard Shawabout the transformation of a rude flower girl into a lady of London high society thanks to the training of Professor Higgins, characters that George Cukor immortalized in the movie my fair lady. Bernard Shaw titled his work in memory of the monarch of Greek mythology who sculpted a statue of an ideal woman and convinced the gods to make her his flesh and blood wife.

The Pygmalion effect has positive sign when the image of ourselves that we receive from the environment is superior to our own and serves as a encouragement to improve.

As Blaise Pascal already told us in the 17th century: “Treat a human being as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat him as he can become, and he will become what he can become.”

However, the Pygmalion effect is negativewhen the image attributed to us is discouraging and pushes us to not trust our potential qualities.

pygmalion effect: examples outside of school

The Pygmalion effect is not limited solely to the relationship between teachers and their students. It can appear in any relationship in which one party is considered more prepared than the other..

In the family, in the work environment, in sports, in health care, in marital relationships… It has been used successfully in the business world, in sports and also in hospital environments.

The vision that a manager has of the people in his charge generates a transcendental impact on them, since employees tend to respond according to the expectations they receive from their superiors. The negative images projected by managers hinder self-confidence and make it more difficult for their subordinates to display their talent because they fall prey to insecurities and fears.

In sport we currently find a great profusion of coaches who put into practice the “positive” Pygmalion. The case of the coach is known Pep Guardiolathat, reiterating to the young Leo Messi who had the skills to be the best soccer player in the world, saw the self-fulfilling prophecy.

In healthcare, Physician expectations create a Pygmalion effect on patient recovery. It has also been found that the placebo effect is stronger when the belief in the effectiveness of the treatment is shared by all members of a group.

pygmalion effect in couple relationships

There is a realm where the Pygmalion effect can have disastrous consequences: in the relationship.

With a lot of frequency someone assumes the union with a person who considers imperfect with the hope of taking it to an alleged perfection through coexistence.

Many people feel (rightly) under constant scrutiny by their partner, which prevents them from acting naturally.

This relentless inquisition may be due to two different causes What is worth differentiating:

Let the couple be one narcissistic and manipulative personin which case it is necessary to recommend an urgent dissolution of the couple for mental health. That he is behaving under pygmalion syndrome. In this case, we must remind both protagonists that true love begins with mutual acceptance of the respective personalities. Is about help growto enhance the qualities of the person with whom you live, not wanting to change behaviors that are prejudged defective and unwanted.