Simply holding positive expectations about someone’s performance and truly believing in their capabilities can subtly but powerfully affect their behavior—leading to positive outcomes. This is what is known as the "self-fulfilling prophecy," or the "Pygmalion effect," named after George Bernard Shaw's play in which Professor Henry Higgins transforms a common flower seller, Eliza Doolittle, into a lady simply because he was convinced that it would happen (more popularized by the musical, My Fair Lady).

The power of the Pygmalion effect, first captured by psychologist Robert Rosenthal in his study of elementary school children, has been well documented as a simple and effective way to boost performance in the classroom, in the workplace, in the military, and elsewhere.

In his famous study of elementary school students, Rosenthal led teachers to believe that certain pupils in their classrooms had been identified as........

© Psychology Today