MGT312 for Catherine Owens

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Pygmalion Effect

The Pygmalion effectis a special case of the self-fulfilling prophecy in which raising a manager's expectations for worker performance in fact boosts performance. The Pygmalion effect first appeared in educational psychology when psychologists experimentally raised elementary schoolteachers' expectations for a randomly selected subsample of pupils, producing significantly greater achievement gains among those pupils than among control pupils. Subsequent research has replicated this phenomenon among adult supervisors and subordinates in military, business, industrial, and service organizations and among all four cross-gender combinations—that is, both men and women lead male and female subordinates to greater success when they expect more of them. Interpersonal expectancy is inherent in most leader-follower interactions, and the Pygmalion effect undoubtedly characterizes many manager-worker relationships.

Several theories have been proposed to explain why raising leader expectations boosts subordinate performance. Common to all explanations is a causal chain that begins with the impact of the leader's expectations on and his or her ownbehavior toward subordinates, which, in turn, arouses some motivational response on the part of the subordinates and culminates in subordinate performance that accords with the leader's expectations. Self-efficacy has emerged as the key motivational mediator in this process. Self-efficacy is an individual's belief in his or her ability to execute the behaviors needed to perform successfully. Ample research shows that self-efficacy is a major determinant of performance. When individuals believe they have what it takes to succeed, they try harder. Conversely, those who doubt they can succeed refrain from exerting the effort to apply the ability they do have and end up accomplishing less than is possible.

The Pygmalion-at-work model posits that having high expectations moves the leader to treat followers in a manner that augments their self-efficacy, which, in turn, motivates subordinates to expend greater effort, culminating in enhanced performance. Thus, the Pygmalion effect is a motivational phenomenon initiated by the high performance expectations held by a leader who believes in his or her followers' capacity for success. In a largely unconscious interpersonal process, leaders with high expectations lead their followers to success by enhancing their self-efficacy.

The self-fulfilling prophecy is a double-edged sword: As high expectations boost performance, low expectations can depress performance in a negative process dubbed the Golem effect. The word golem means "oaf or "dumbbell" in Hebrew and Yiddish slang. Managers who expect dumbbells get dumbbells. Experiments have shown that Golem effects can be mitigated by informing supervisors that subordinates with relatively low qualifications have high potential to succeed.

Another variant of the self-fulfilling prophecy is the Galatea effect. Named for the statue sculpted by the mythical Pygmalion, this is an intrapersonal expectancy effect involving only the worker. Self-starters fulfill their own prophecies of success; believing in their own capacity to excel, they mobilize their internal motivational resources to sustain the effort needed for success even without any external source (e.g., a supervisor) of high expectations. However, Galatea effects can also be Golem-like. Individuals who harbor a negative self-image expect to fail; they refrain from using their skills and abilities, thereby needlessly but unintentionally fulfilling their own gloomy prophecy.

Finally, research shows group-level expectancy effects in which a manager's high expectations for a whole group, distinct from expectations toward particular individuals, culminate in the group exceeding the performance of control groups. This is an especially important phenomenon in team sports as well as in the teamwork that has emerged as a defining feature of modern organizations.

A fascinating but elusive aspect of interpersonal self-fulfilling prophecies involves the communication of expectations. Some of this communication is verbal Page 712  |   Top of Article and conscious, but much of it is not. Managers exhibit many nonverbal behaviors by which they convey their expectations, whether high or low, to subordinates. When managers expect more, they unwittingly nod their heads affirmatively more often, draw nearer physically, maintain eye contact, speak quickly, and show greater patience toward those they are supervising. These nonverbal behaviors serve to "warm" the interpersonal relationship, create a climate of support, and foster success. Other ways in which leaders favor those whom they expect more from include providing them with more input, more feedback, and more opportunities to show what they can do, whereas those whom managers expect less of are left neglected "on the bench."

Fortunately, the high expectations that motivate enhanced performance also augment subordinate satisfaction. In every successful Pygmalion experiment in which satisfaction was measured, it was significantly increased. Satisfaction is not a surprising by-product. High expectations and the resulting superior performance are satisfying because, by and large, employees want to succeed, and they are more satisfied when they do. Thus, all the news is good news as far as the Pygmalion effect is concerned.

Meta-analyses have confirmed that the magnitude of the Pygmalion effect in management is medium to large. The Pygmalion effect research is unique in organizational psychology because it is entirely based on field experimentation, lending it extraordinary internal and external validity. Experimental design confirms the flow of causality from leader expectations to follower performance, and the field settings confirm its generalizability. What remains to be shown is the practical validity of the Pygmalion effect. Although replications have produced the effect in organizations, attempts to get managers to apply it through managerial training have been less successful. Managers' prior acquaintance with subordinates appears to be a barrier to widespread application. Virtually all of the successful replications occurred among newcomers whose managers had not known them previously. Familiarity apparently crystallizes expectations because managers do not expect their subordinates to change much. Therefore, the most effective applications may be made among managers and new subordinates.

Organizational innovations and other deviations from routine that unfreeze standard operating procedures are particularly conducive to Pygmalion effects. Organizational development programs or profound changes in organizational structure or function resulting from, for example, mergers and acquisitions or personnel transitions open a window of opportunity. Savvy managers piggyback on these unsettling events and raise expectations to promote successful change and productive outcomes. In one classic industrial example, the introduction of simple job rotation and job enrichment produced significant improvements in productivity when accompanied by information that raised expectations from the new work procedures, but neither innovation improved productivity when expectations were not raised.

The practical upshot is clear: Change—any change—presents managers with an opportunity to create productive Pygmalion effects. It is incumbent on those who want to lead individuals, teams, and organizations to success to convey high expectations whenever the opportunity presents itself. Conversely, cynical expressions of doubt about reorganizations, innovations, or developmental interventions condemn them to failure. Thus, the practical agenda for managers is twofold: They must counteract any manifestations of contrary expectations, and they must implant high expectations.

The essence of the Pygmalion effect is that managers get the workers they expect. Expect more and you will get more. However, the converse is true, too: Expect less and you will get less. All managers should strive to play a Pygmalion role by cultivating high expectations of their subordinates' potential and by communicating those expectations to foster high self-expectations among subordinates regarding their own potential for success. High expectations are too important to be left to chance or whim; they should be built into all manager-worker relationships and should be part of all managerial training and development programs.

                                          —Dov Eden