[Taian Yidekang Psychology Classroom] pygmalion effect

Pygmalion effect is said to have originated from an ancient Greek myth: King Pygmalion was a famous sculptor. He carved a beautiful and lovely girl with ivory. He is deeply in love with this "girl", and he sincerely hopes that his love can be accepted by the "girl". So he came to the temple of Aphrodite with a generous sacrifice and asked the goddess for help. He prayed that the goddess would give life to the statue. His sincere expectation touched the goddess, so the goddess really brought this beautiful statue to life. Pygmalion married her.

People summed up the "pygmalion effect" from Pygmalion's story: Expectation and praise can produce miracles. American psychologists Rosenthal and Jacobson have proved this effect classically and made it widely used, so pygmalion effect is also called Rosenthal effect.

? 1968, Rosenthal and Jacobson came to an American school and started their research and experiment.

? They first predicted the students' grades in six classes in the school, told the headmaster and related teachers with appreciation the list of students they thought had development potential, and repeatedly told them to keep the list confidential. In fact, the names on these lists were chosen by them at random. Unexpectedly, however, eight months later, there was a surprising result: the students on the list made remarkable progress, and they were more cheerful, eager to learn, dared to express their opinions, and had a particularly harmonious relationship with teachers.

? Why is there such a significant difference after eight months? This is the phenomenon of * * * in expectation psychology. It turns out that these teachers, after receiving authoritative predictions, began to treat these students with praise and trust, with a kind and gentle attitude. Even if they make mistakes, they don't criticize them severely, and they express their trust in their ability to correct them by praising their advantages. In fact, they played the role of Pygmalion. It is this vague expectation and praise that makes students more enterprising, self-respecting, self-confident and self-reliant, and strive for progress, so there is a "miracle."

? This experiment made Rosenthal and Jacobson more sure of their findings. They think that higher expectations of others can bring better results.

? Pygmalion effect left us an inspiration: praise, trust and expectation have an energy that can change people's behavior. When a person gains the trust and praise of another person, he feels supported by society, thus enhancing his self-confidence, becoming confident and self-respecting, gaining a positive motivation, and trying his best to meet the expectations of the other party, thus avoiding the disappointment of the other party and maintaining the continuity of this social support. Therefore, "pygmalion effect" is also called "expected effect". It shows that everyone can succeed, but whether he can succeed depends in part on whether people around him can love, expect and educate him like successful people.

? Pygmalion effect told us that conveying positive expectations to a person will make him progress faster and develop better. On the other hand, conveying negative expectations to a person will make people give up their efforts.