ElysianState

Hello.

On my last post I wrote about the spotlight effect, in which we feel we are being judged and watched by others more than we actually are. I have a similar subject today-though it may not be as negative as the former.

THE EXPECTATION ENGINE

If we look to early traces of the effect in action, the “Oak School Experiment” conducted by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jackson in 1968. In it, students were given an IQ test at the beginning of a school year. A random group of students were selected and their teachers were told that they were “intellectual bloomers” ready to grow academically over the year. These students had no actual intellectual advantage over others. However, at the end of the year Rosenthal and Jacobson found that the bloomers showed significantly higher academic improvement compared to those who were not selected. The only difference was that the teachers had belief that they had higher potential, causing them to change their interactions with and expectations of the student.

Rosenthal and Jacobson took away that expectations can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Teachers who believed gave more encouragement and challenged them more, causing them to perform better. Their study sparked further research and discussion on the impact of expectations in domains outside of education, eventually leading to knowledge on the Pygmalion Effect and its inverse, the Golem Effect.

BEHAVIOR LOOPS

The Pygmalion Effect starts with an initial belief or expectation. These can be conscious or unconscious, but once they’re formed they can subtly begin to influence behavior towards the target. There isn’t an absolute way that they translate into behaviors.

Among these are:

Attention: If we take the example of the school into account again, a teacher may show more time and attention towards a student who they believe had the potential to succeed.
Positive Feedback: We’re more likely to offer positive reinforcement when we believe in something, helping others build confidence and feel more competent.
Opportunities: We may find ourselves challenging ourselves if we know we can accomplish something. This gives us a chance to develop and prove our skills in what we attempt to improve in.

Even minor actions can boost self-esteem and encourage us to work harder or take on new challenges, starting a cycle of encouragement and success. This ties into the concept of a feedback loop, where a person is given more opportunities, positive reinforcement, and encouragement, helping them rise to those expectations. As they continue to achieve, those around them offer ore positive interactions and higher expectations as a result of reinforced belief in them.

You might have noticed the same in regular life. If you play sports, imagine going into a game believing that you would fail compared to going in believing that you would play well. The mental block formed by an already negative belief would do nothing but hold you back compared to a positive one, which would challenge you to rise to the occasion. To adopt this in regular life, the best ways to start a loop include growth-focused language, which encourages words relating to potential and progress, positive reinforcement, and achievable (but still high) goals. Beyond the positive implications that I already mentioned, choosing not to harness the effect can lead to the formation of its negative: the Golem effect.

THE OTHER SIDE

The Golem Effect is, simply, the opposite of the Pygmalion Effect. As you might have expected, it involves low expectations leading to low results. It might be more apparent on our own: looking down upon ourselves makes us more likely to underperform due to a lack of encouragement and motivation. I brought up the example of sports to bring up this topic: we lose motivation to try harder in something when we go into it believing we will fail.

It goes without saying that the importance of leaders, teacher, or mentors being mindful of how they communicate expectations is critical to the development success of those making progress. Low expectations from outside or within can inadvertently hinder someone’s potential. It’s important to keep this in mind as we approach others as well. Making sure that we’re conscious of our expectations in others is an important way to stop limiting the potential of others.

While it’s true that setting high goals for ourselves can help us get by the Golem Effect, we still need to keep these goals manageable. Settings goals that we know we can’t reach is only going to lead to more stress and disappointment, possibly bringing you back to where you started. Instead, set lofty goals that are still achievable with enough effort. Use a growth mindset to encourage the belief of potential to help make progress on your goals.

Let’s go back to the original story of a teacher that gave their student more attention. The teacher begins the feedback loop by showing extra care and belief towards the student, who is incentivized to work harder in return. As the student improves, the teacher reinforces their faith in the student, who continues to set taller goals for themselves and works hard as a result of the teacher’s expectations for them.

On Thursday I talked about how we overestimate the amount others pay attention to us. But when they actually do, it can have a profound effect on how we act and perform. Keep in mind this goes both ways. The way we act has the power to impact the self-perception and growth of others. Remind yourself of that when considering the expectations you place on others.