Pygmalion Effect – Juliette Lloyd

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The Pygmalion Effect -The Importance Positive Expectation

by Juliette Lloyd

Introduction

The job of the coach is rewarding, satisfying and challenging. It is a great privilege to be able to

help an athlete move further towards his/her potential but how many coaches are aware of the

magnitude of their power? In this article, I’m going to explore the impact that a coach can have,

both positive and negative, on their charges, and offer some ideas for how to harness this

power in the most effective way.

Firstly a bit of culture!

Pygmalion was a sculptor in Greek mythology who sculpted a statue of a lady of such beauty

and loveliness that he fell in love with the statute and wanted to marry it. Because of his hard

work and devotion, the goddess of love shot an arrow into the statue, which turned into a real

woman whom Pygmalion then married.

The message of this simple tale is clear and is most applicable to coaches – holding a strong,

clear image about someone else may be enough to influence the person to grow into your

image.

This concept was modernised and brought to life in George Bernard Shaw’s classic play of the

same name - Pygmalion. Shaw tells the story of Professor Higgins who bets that he can take the

lowliest flower girl (Eliza Doolittle) off the streets of London and pass her off as a lady in London

society. Professor Higgins puts her through a rigorous training programme of phonetics,

manner and dressing and eventually does pass her off as a lady. However, the really interesting

part of this story is summarised by Professor Higgins’ when he says towards the end of the play:

"...the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she's

treated."

This shows that no matter how much hard work and dedication had gone into his experiment –

what made the difference was how others treated her. Again, something that is applicable for

coaches the world over.

The practical implications of the “Pygmalion” effect were shown in a remarkable piece of

research by two psychologists (Rosenthal and Jackson, 1968). They tested the Pygmalion theory

out on a group of school teachers working in a school in America. At the start of the study, all

the school children were administered an IQ test, which was disguised as a test that would

predict intellectual "blooming." Once the results had been collated, the children were placed

randomly into an experimental group and a control group. The teachers were then told that

some of the children in the class had achieved scores on the "IQ test" which indicated they

would show surprising gains in intellectual competence during the next 8 months of school (the

experimental group) while the others showed no such signs (the control group).

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At the end of the school year, 8 months later, all the children were retested with the same test

of intelligence. The children in the experimental group, whom the teachers had been led to

expect greater intellectual gain, showed a significantly greater gain than did the children of the

control group. Of course, in reality there was no such distinction between the children, as they

had been assigned randomly to the groups, the only distinction was what the teachers expected

the children to achieve. This means that "the change in the teachers' expectations regarding

the intellectual performance of these allegedly 'special' children had led to an actual change in

the intellectual performance of these randomly selected children".

Implications for the Coach

We spend a great deal of time in sport psychology focused on what the athlete can do for

themselves. Sport psychology is after all, the study of successful people and it is the application

of this knowledge that we use to help athletes understand how they can perform to their

potential. It is important however, not to overlook the key role the coach has to play in the

success of those he/she coaches and I think the above stories and research illustrate this only

too well. There is absolutely no point in coaching someone and putting in the hours with them,

urging them to dedicate their time and effort to something if ultimately the coach doesn’t think

they will make it. It is possible for an athletes’ self-belief and expectations to override those

around them, but the job is made much easier if people around them believe they can make it

too!

Tips for the coach

As the above stories have shown, your expectations of people and their expectations of

themselves are the key factors in how well people perform at school, at work, in sport – this is

known as the Pygmalion effect. The power of expectations cannot be overestimated and there

are some fundamental principles you can apply to ensure that as a coach you are giving those in

your charge the best deal.

Consider the following:

• Every coach has expectations of the athletes he/she coaches. What are your

expectations of everyone you coach? Where did these expectations come from? Are

they justified? • Coaches communicate these expectations consciously or unconsciously. How are your

expectations manifesting themselves? Do you find yourself treating, talking to or

reacting to different athletes in different ways? Are there any athletes you could expect

more from? • People pick up on, or consciously or unconsciously read, these expectations from their

coach. Are there any of your athletes who don’t believe in themselves as much as they

could? Is there anything you could be doing better? Do you believe that every athlete

has the ability to achieve his or her potential? It is the telegraphing of that message,

either consciously or unconsciously, that will positively affect performance

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• People perform in ways that are consistent with the expectations they have picked up on

from the coach. Can you see any self-fulfilling prophecies being acted out in your

coaching group? What would happen if you changed your approach to someone you

coach? Can you imagine how performance would improve if you were to communicate

positive thoughts about people to people?

It’s worth spending some time mulling over the above questions and becoming more aware of

how what you think, impacts upon the athletes you coach. The more you expect from them,

the more you will act to help them grow into the image you have of them, rather than give up at

the first hurdle. And, the effect of the coach gets even better than this. When the coach holds

positive expectations about people, he/she helps individuals improve their self-concept and

thus, self-esteem. People believe they can succeed and contribute and their performance rises

to the level of their own expectations.

I hope this article has provided some food for thought and given you some valuable insights into

the important role of the coach. Remember - be very careful about what you expect – the

majority of the time – you tend to get it!

About the Author

Juliette has an MSc in Exercise and Sport Psychology and is a British Association of Sport and

Exercise Sciences (BASES) accredited Sport Psychologist and a Chartered Psychologist with the

British Psychological Society (CPsychol).

A former British junior international rower, Juliette has almost a decade of experience as a

rowing coach at national and international level for the Great Britain junior team and has

achieved significant success coaching in competitive schools competitions.

After graduating in Psychology (BA Hons.) from the University of Exeter in 1996, Juliette

subsequently gained her MSc at Exeter in 1998, before formally training as a Sport Psychologist.

She has worked in the field for nearly ten years, supporting performers in a variety of sports,

including athletics, lacrosse, rowing, polar exploration, women’s rugby and badminton. Juliette

currently divides her time between her role as a sport psychologist at the English Institute of

Sport based at the National Badminton Centre, Milton Keynes and her private consultancy

company.

Previously featured in Power and Precision – Nov 2007