All About You FRIDAY - The Power You Possess

In the early 1960’s, American psychologist, Robert Rosenthal conducted a ground-breaking study with students at the University of North Dakota. He asked a group of students to teach rats to navigate a maze. Six students were told their rats were bred for intelligence, while the other six students were informed their rats were, for “genetic reasons” challenged in learning. The rats were placed in cages marked “maze-bright” and “maze-dull” to emphasize their predispositions.

In reality, these were just plain rats. None had received special training and certainly none of them had been genetically tested for intelligence. It would seem such an experiment would be pointless.

But this simple study would be the catalyst for some of the most cited and significant research related to this power we possess: the impact our expectations have on our actions and others.

Those rats ended up doing surprising things. The “maze-bright” rats completed the maze with efficiency and speed, while the “maze-dull” rats struggled, some not even budging from the start. The difference wasn’t in the rats, but in the way the subjects handled them. The observations were interesting:

The students who handled the “smarter” rats ranked their rats as brighter, more likeable and more pleasant than the students with the “duller” rats.
The students with the “bright” rats were observed to handle their subjects with more enthusiasm, kind and gentle touch and friendliness, while the students the “dull” rats treated their subjects with less enthusiasm and compassion.

When a principal at Spruce Elementary in San Francisco read the study, he reached out to Rosenthal saying if he ever graduated to doing the experiment on children, he would be interested. And that launched one of the most cited psychological studies into what has become known as the Pygmalion Effect, referencing the Greek legend in which a sculptor loved a statue he created so much, that it came to life.

Students were given a standard IQ test and then assigned to one of two groups: students who would ”blossom” and then a “regular” group. In reality, the students were randomly chosen to be placed in each group. At the end of the school year, the “blossoming” group IQ scores climbed significantly higher than the others. The difference? This group ended up being taught with more encouragement, extra help, positive feedback and warmer body language, without the teachers even realizing they were doing it. And the difference was greater in kids in first and second grade versus sixth grade.

The nonverbal messages we send people, a look, a gesture or tone of voice, can change the course of a lifetime. If we believe someone is a certain way, we react to them in such a way that they meet our expectation.

Rats. Children. Spouses. Co-workers. It’s proven to be true. The power we possess to change their lives one way or another is significant. I’ll leave it at that.

It’s Friday and it’s been a long week. Don’t forget to celebrate.

Until next time…