The Eliza Do A Little More Effect/Pygmalion Effect

The Eliza Do A Little More Effect

By, Gina Marie Hill Meyers

While attending Fresno State University,  in 1992, I was selected to be part of an elite marketing/management class headed by the late Dr. Vic Panico. Dr. Panico introduced the term Pygmalion Effect to the sixteen of us. Now, a little over twenty years of thinking about the concept, I have developed two new terms related to the Pygmalion Effect, The Eliza Do A Little More Effect, and Substitute Authority Figure Interference.

The Eliza Do A Little More Effect. Eliza Doo Little was the main character in the movie, My Fair Lady. My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.

The story centers around an unmannered, poor, Cockney dialect flower girl who takes speech lessons from Professor Henry Higgins, a phoeticist, so that he can get her to pass as a well manner, sophisticated, wealthy and well-bred lady.

The original playbill has playwright Shaw as a heavenly puppet master, pulling the strings on the character Professor Henry Higgins, in turn Henry Higgins attempts to control Ms. Doo Little. Drawn by Al Hirschfeld.

A snobbish, stuck up conceited, intellectual by the name of Professor Higgins, an aristocrat in the field of languages and linguistics makes a bet with his friend that he can take lower- class Eliza Doolittle, with her harsh and thick Cockney accent, and transform her into a proper English Society Lady.

The Pygmalion Effect, also known as the Rosenthal Effect and the Galatea Effects is defined as your expectations of people and their expectations of themselves are key factors in behavior.

If we can all take the Eliza Do A Little More Effect into account each and every day, we can be the change we hope in the world.

There are a few simple steps to take in your life to Do A Little More.

1.      Take responsibility for feelings, thoughts and actions.

2.      Believe we are good.

3.      Believe we are capable.

4.      Believe we can achieve.

5.       Take risks.

6.      Try and try again.

7.      Believe failure is not an option.

8.      Set goals high.

The Eliza Do A Little More Effect breaks your own glass ceiling, you raise the bar for yourself. You have to believe you are capable on achieving greatness in order to achieve greatness. It is a self fulfilling prophecy. Believing in your own potential creates potential.

Tell yourself:

You are your own cheerleader, you are bright and clever. If you have an issue, get help. Seek out positive role models; don’t beat yourself up, live.

I will introduce a term I have developed called Substitute Authority Figure Interference. What it means is that any person can replace or substitute and create a positive experience and get a positive result from employees. It works on the basic good cop bad cop principle. If the teacher for example thinks his class is loud, disruptive and just plain horrible and he introduces another substitute authority figure. The Substitute Authority Figure can:

1) Believe the primary authority figure and institute Pygmalion Effect or

2) Utilize the approach of Pygmalion Effect, take charge, expect positive behavior from employees or students. Set up clear boundaries, expectations and improvement.

If you institute the second approach, the approach will reap benefits. Positive behavior will be had. So, the power of expectations is like the Law of Attraction.

To say it in a more concrete way, authority figures perceptions affect the performance of their charges or employees. As an elementary substitute teacher for the past sixteen years, I have seen it time and time again. The teacher will leave a note and it will start…. One of two ways.

This is a very well-behaved class, they are respectful, caring, great at following directions. Here is a list of names of students to call on if you need any assistance.

The second note would read:

This is a terrible class. They are loud, disrespectful, poor listeners. I have personally found that those classes where the teacher thinks the kids are so great are neither better or worse than any other class. Sometimes in fact, the children are louder and more power hungry since their teacher believes them to be so exceptional.

The real key is the authority figures perceptions. Anytime I buy into the teachers perceptions of a disruptive class I’m in trouble. The key is giving everyone a clean slate and “yes” at times acknowledging disruptive students or rather being aware of the potential. The most important part of maintaining order, having a quiet class, or whatever positive actions or productivity you are seeking is to model this positive approach with clear expectations, being positive. 

Pygmalion Effect

Principal

Supervisor

Teacher

Parent

*Every supervisor has expectations of the people who report to them.

*Supervisors communicate these expectations consciously and unconsciously.

*People, students, employees, children consciously and unconsciously.

&People, students, employees, children consciously and unconsciously pick up on the vibe.

*People perform in ways that is consistent with the expectations they have picked up from a supervisor.

supervisor.