The Pygmalion Effect And You
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”
Have you ever heard of the Pygmalion Effect?
How does it possibly relate to how you create your life?
The Pygmalion Effect basically says that how you perceive another person is how they will actually perform. There have been a number of studies proving this to varying degrees and these studies generally refer to how an observer’s attitude affects the performance of the subject.
In the original study that the term came from, teachers were given a randomized set of students and told that each group had different capabilities: one gifted and the other remedial. The outcomes achieved by the students directly correlated with the teachers’ attitudes about them: the “gifted” students outperformed the students in the “remedial” group despite both groups being on average at the same level. The only difference was in the teachers’ perceptions and the resulting actions they took.
This is a kind of observer-expectancy effect which is where the observer of an experiment affects the outcome based on their expectation of the outcome. (For an early study on this, see the story of Clever Hans).
It is also a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy – the more you believe something is going to happen, the more likely it is to happen.
That’s all very interesting and there’s lots of ways we could take this discussion, but the question I’d like to explore with you today is:
What if the observer and the subject are the same person?
That is…
How is your perception of yourself, your self-image, your internal dialog, affecting your performance and outcomes? How is it limiting what’s possible for you?
Going back to the original myth: Pygmalion was a sculptor in ancient Greece who fell so much in love with one of his marble creations, that the goddess Aphrodite brought the statue to life and Pygmalion married her.
The psychological analogy is that whatever story or image or vision you “fall in love with” will actually come to be - will come to life. If that is a positive image, things will go better for you. And if this is a negative story, your life will turn toward that negative vision.
It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy and that’s the Pygmalion Effect in action in your life.
And what if that story is the story of yourself and who you are and what you’re capable of? Are you a “success”? Are you and “athlete”? Are you a “business person”? Do you “understand” money? Are you “bad” at relationships? Do you “deserve” to have happiness and a good life?
Most of the time, these are unconscious judgements that create limitations on what we are capable of achieving. They limit what is possible for us. Becoming aware of any negative assessments is the first step (and sometimes the only step) in overcoming the constraints we place on ourselves.
The second step is to create a new narrative, to use new positive language to describe ourselves and what we are capable of.
So be like Pygmalion. Create the most beautiful vision you possibly can and fall so much in love with that vision that it comes to life and becomes your reality.
It’s up to you what you create. You are the author of your reality. If your vision is strong enough and pure enough and you believe in it, you create the possibility for it to become your reality.
