The Rosenthal Effect: How Our Expectations Shape Someone Else’s Destiny

When a teacher looks at a student and thinks, “This one’s definitely going to be a straight-A kid,” something invisible kicks in. The student suddenly starts studying harder, even though no one gave them extra lessons. Or a coach spots a future star in a rookie—and that rookie actually breaks through. It’s not magic. It’s not luck. It’s the Rosenthal Effect, also known as the Pygmalion Effect. And it doesn’t just happen in classrooms or gyms—it’s everywhere people and expectations meet.

What It Is, Plain and Simple

Picture two average students. A teacher is casually told, “This one’s gifted.” That’s it. The teacher starts praising them more, giving tougher assignments, expecting more. The student senses it—and rises to the occasion. Not because they got smarter overnight. But because someone believed in them.

That’s the Rosenthal Effect: our expectations influence other people’s behavior, and they start acting the way we expect them to.

How It Was Discovered

1960s, USA. Psychologists Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson wanted to test whether teachers’ expectations could actually change kids’ performance. They took a regular elementary school, gave every student an IQ test, then randomly picked 20% and told the teachers: “These kids showed special potential—watch for a leap.” In reality, there was no special potential. The selection was pure chance.

A year later, they retested everyone. And guess what? Those “gifted” kids really did better—especially in the younger grades. Their IQ jumped 10–15 points more than the others.

The study was called “Pygmalion in the Classroom” and came out in 1968. It caused an uproar. Many refused to believe it. But the experiment has been replicated dozens of times—in schools, militaries, workplaces. The effect holds.

How It Works in the Brain

A few mechanisms drive the effect:

• Micro-signals. The teacher smiles more at the “gifted” kid, makes eye contact longer, nods when they speak. The student subconsciously reads: “I’m valued—so I can do this.”
• More opportunities. That student gets harder tasks, more time to answer, and praise for trying. It creates a loop: effort → success → confidence → even bigger success.
• Self-fulfilling prophecy. The person starts believing what’s expected of them. And changes their behavior. Classic cognitive bias—working for us, or against us.

What About Negative Expectations?

That’s the Golem Effect—the opposite of Pygmalion. If you expect failure, you get it.

Example: In the 1980s in Israel, researchers studied soldiers. Officers were told some recruits had “low potential.” Months later, those soldiers really did perform worse—even though there was no initial difference.

Where Else It Shows Up

• At work. A boss sees an employee as “high-potential”—gives them juicy projects, training, autonomy. The employee grows. The “average” one gets stuck on routine—and stays there.
• In relationships. A partner thinks, “He/she is lazy”—and starts doing everything themselves. The partner gets used to it. Expectation becomes reality.
• In sports. A coach sees a champion in an athlete—they train harder, push through pain, believe in victory. And win.

Can You Use It?

Yes. And it’s not manipulation—it’s a tool.

• Want your kid to read more? Don’t say “you’re lazy.” Say: “I know you can finish this book in a week.” Then hand them the book.
• Want a better employee? Don’t hunt for perfection—take someone ordinary and believe in them. Give tasks, support, and feedback.

The key: expectations must be realistic and genuine. If you expect the impossible, they’ll burn out.

A Cool Psychology Fact

The Rosenthal Effect even works on animals. In 1963, Rosenthal ran an experiment with rats. Students were told: “These rats are geniuses, trained to run mazes.” Others: “These are dumb.” The rats were identical. But the “geniuses” ran faster. Why? Students handled them more gently, petted them more, and conveyed a sense of calm. The rats sensed this ease—and performed better.

Wrap-Up

You can’t control talent or circumstances. But you can control your expectations. And they’re like an invisible wind—pushing someone forward. Or dragging them back.

So next time you look at a child, a colleague, or even yourself in the mirror—ask: What do I expect from you?

The answer might change everything.

Source:

• Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom: Teacher expectation and pupils' intellectual development. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
• Eden, D., & Shani, A. B. (1982). Pygmalion goes to boot camp. Journal of Applied Psychology.