Motivating others is probably easier than expected.
Psychologists have been able to prove that the “Pygmalion effect” can encourage top performance.
Certain behaviors can have a huge impact on our fellow human beings - negatively as well as positively.
A study from 1968 showed how easily we can bring others to peak performance. The US psychologists Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson had
tested
the “
Pygmalion Effect
” in primary school children in California - with resounding success.
With the help of a supposed IQ test, the psychologists were able to demonstrate
the powerful influence that expectations have on others
.
Elementary school students were instructed to take the IQ test and the results were only shared with teachers afterwards.
The study directors passed on the information which students had done particularly well.
They also told the teachers that these students could be expected to perform better than the other students.
At the end of the school year it became clear that the children who were predicted to get good grades had actually done better than their classmates - although the study leaders had chosen those children at random and not according to the actual IQ test results.
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Expectations change dealing with others - and ideally spurs on to better performance
The study shows how powerful teacher expectations can be, reports gifted and creativity researcher Tanja Gabriele Baudson from the University of Trier, among others.
One can deduce from the “Pygmalion effect” that underestimated children achieve poorer school results
.
"Low expectations of the teacher go hand in hand with a lower school self-concept of ability of the child - so underrated children are less sure of being able to meet performance requirements", says the psychologist.
But it is not only in the school area that people behave as we expect them to.
Doctors, managers and parents can also make use of the “Pygmalion effect”.
Because patients, employees and the next generation also show that
those who expect good things, consciously and unconsciously, promote and encourage and focus on positive development
and trust that others will find their way, writes the
Business Insider
portal
.
The example of a boss-employee relationship sounds plausible: a manager who firmly believes in their team and who accordingly puts a lot of trust in them to always find the best solution to a problem, is most likely to create such a team, according to
business Insider
.
(jg)
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