What is the Pygmalion effect?

Jul 1, 2025 5 min

About this episode

Have you ever wondered how our expectations can impact the way we perceive and interact with others? Well, it’s actually been demonstrated that beliefs and attitudes can lead to outcomes that align with those beliefs, due to what’s known as the Pygmalion effect. 20th century American psychologist Robert Rosenthal coined the term in 1968. He had teamed up with San Francisco elementary school principal Lenore Jacobson to conduct a groundbreaking experiment. It showed that teacher behaviour and attitude could actually influence their students' achievements. Where does the name come from? What did Rosenthal and Jacobson’s experiment consist of? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here : ⁠What are the alternatives to air conditioning?⁠ ⁠What is misogynoir?⁠ ⁠Can I reuse sunscreen from one year to the next?⁠ A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance. First Broadcast: 2/11/2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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