Chapter 5: Pygmalion Expectations, Leader Gender, and Subordinate Gender Influence on Performance

The Pygmalion effect has long been considered a special case of selffulfilling prophecy (SFP) (Eden, 1992; Merton, 1948). A Pygmalion effect occurs when one person (e.g., a teacher or manager) has high, but realistic, expectations of another person or group of people (e.g., a student or subordinates). This person shapes the performance of the target’s behavior (Eden, 1984), which results better individual (or group) performance. The Pygmalion effect has long been considered a special case of selffulfilling prophecy (SFP) (Eden, 1992; Merton, 1948). These types of selffulfilling results have been documented consistently as an effective tool in raising the performance of individuals engaging in academic pursuits (e.g., Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1966, 1968), training programs (e.g., Eden, 1990; Eden & Aviram, 1993), mechanical tasks (e.g., King, 1971) and work related tasks (e.g., King, 1974). For instance, classic studies by Rosenthal and Jacobeson (1966, 1968) found that when teachers were given higher expectations of targeted pupils the previously average students perform better academically and experienced a warmer socioemotional climate for learning. A meta-analysis conducted by Kiernein and Gold (1998) found an overall effect size for the Pygmalion effect in work organizations of .76.