Believing is Achieving

The way that we and other people see us can have a direct effect on what we can achieve, a theory wich was tested by two psychologists, Rosenthal and Jacobson in 1966 and is often called the Pygmalion effect.

 They went to a primary school in America and gave all the students an IQ test which was meant to measure their future expectations. However, the results of the IQ test were irrelevant as the 20% of students teachers were told who had achieved the best results were randomly selected. This meant that the teachers percieved an average group of students to be better than the rest and would treat them accordingly.

At the end of that academic year, the students all repeated the test. The results showed that, especially among first and second grade students, the 'top' 20% had improved much more than the rest of their peers. Rosenthal and Jacobson put this down to that the teachers expected more from the students so they subtly favoured them above the others, by showing more interest and enouraging them to stretch themselves more. The results showed a smaller, though still clear, divide as the students got older, most probably because they were less impressionable and the teachers knew them better so they already had an idea of who the bright students were in the class.

This is an example of a 'self fulfilling prophecy', where something happens because people believe that it will, rather than any direct action. Although there is still debate around this theory it is encouraging to see the power of positivity and optimism in creating an environment for ourselves in which we are most likely to thrive.