The Hindu Business Line : Harnessing the power of `self-fulfilling prophecy'

EACH one of us has been blessed with a unique power, something many of us may not even be aware of. This is the power of self-fulfilling prophecy or the Pygmalion effect .The essence of this prophecy is that people's expectations determine their behaviour and performance, thus serving to make their expectations come true.

The historical roots of the self-fulfilling prophecy are found in Greek mythology. As per this, Pygmalion, a sculptor and king of Cyprus, carved an ivory statue of the perfect ideal woman and through the strength of his loving belief made the statue come to life. His prophecy came true!

The effect of self-fulfilling prophecy was first demonstrated in an academic environment. After giving a bogus test of academic potential to students from grades one to six, researchers informed teachers that certain students of their class had high potential for achievement, while others had normal or average potential. In reality, students were randomly assigned to the `high potential' and `normal potential' group and there were really no differences among the students.

Results showed that children designated as having high potential obtained significantly greater improvements in both examination scores as well as reading ability than did the others. The teachers' expectations had come true! How did it happen? The high expectations of the teacher from the supposedly "high potential group" caused him/her to give them harder assignments, more feedback and recognition for achievement. Students in the normal potential group did not excel because the teachers did not expect outstanding results from them.

Other studies have tested the Pygmalion effect in adults, military trainees and participants in job training programme. The Pygmalion effect has been observed in work settings as well. A manager's expectations of an individual affect the former's behaviour towards the latter and his response. The following model attempts to outline how supervisory expectations affect employee performance:

The cycle begins with the supervisor forming expectations about the employee's behaviour and performance and these expectations in turn influence his behaviour towards the employee. An employee who is expected to do well receives more emotional support thorough verbal and non-verbal cues , frequent and valuable feedback and reinforcement, challenging goals, better training and more opportunities to demonstrate her or his performance. These have positive effects on the employee. Through better training and more opportunities, a high-expectancy employee learns more skills and knowledge, develops more self-confidence resulting in superior performance. Consequently, high-expectancy employees are more likely to demonstrate desired behaviours and better performance, thereby supporting the supervisor's original expectations.

The self-fulfilling cycle is a double-edged sword that works in both directions and the Golem Effect is the term coined to represent its negative side. Let us consider how it works. A manager could be having low expectations from an employee or an initial neutral impression could get lowered due to the employee making a mistake such as late submission of a report or exhibiting unimpressive performance on a task.

The manager then begins to wonder if this person has what it takes to be successful in the organisation. His verbal and non-verbal communication conveys the lack of confidence in the abilities of the employee. This doubt leads the manager to watch this person more carefully. The employee, of course, notices this reservation and begins to sense a loss of trust. He may start doubting his own judgment and competence.

This process results in a destructive relationship that is fuelled by negative expectations. As positive expectations are the foundation for creating an organisation — wide Pygmalion effect — consider how managers can create this by using various combinations of the following:

Recognise that everyone has potential to improve his or her performance;

Instil confidence in the staff;

Set high performance goals;

Positively reinforce employees for a job well done;

Provide constructive feedback when necessary;

Introduce new employees as if they have outstanding potential;

Encourage employees to visualise the successful execution of tasks;

Help employees advance through the organisation;

Become aware of your personal prejudices and non-verbal messages that may discourage others;

One of the ways to communicate high expectations is to reframe the commonly used expressions. Some simple examples are as follows:

"I know you can do it" versus "I hope you can do it."

The idea is not to advocate the manipulation of others by conveying deceptive cues; rather it is to attempt bringing out the best in others by treating them supportively and optimistically.

High expectations often lead to high performance and, similarly, low expectations lead to inferior performance. By reinforcing positive performance expectations, managers can tap the tremendous potential of the self-fulfilling prophecy, resulting in superior levels of organisational achievement.

(The author is on the faculty of St Joseph's College of Business Administration, Bangalore.)

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Pipelines or pipe-dreams?

No freeloading

B-Day at last!

Stupid Johnny's smart thinking

Half answers to global imbalance

Why were subsidies for poor not vetted?

Harnessing the power of `self-fulfilling prophecy'

Needed, a fair deal for NBFCs

Structural problems of FDI flows

Rail Budget

`Branding India'