The pygmalion effect, as possitive as contraproductive.
Many theories and analysis about the pygmalion effect focus on the important and productive consecuences that this has toward certain areas, the most common is in the organizational and business affairs in which managerial techniques look in order to improve productivity and performance in the workers and employees using the motivation as a tool that finally enhance the possitive things that the enterprise needs.
However, the pigmalion effect has a contraproductive side as well, that many times has been shown in the history.
Continuing with the business affairs issue, that in my opinion is very important to analyse in the psychological side, an example that I investigated, is the pygmalion effect in the bank area, where the deliberations of the people in mass could generate tragic consecuences in the system like the bankruptcy of many financing entities and crisis in many other areas related with the banks, loans, credits, savings (almost all areas).
One specific example of this was the bank crisis in Venezuela in 1994, which has a lot of causes (as all crisis), but one of the most important ones was the bank distrust, which made many venezuelan people retire their savings, “sell their houses, divide their money in several financing institutions and plan their lives according to the leasings of their properties” (Semana, 2008), besides that the country was passing through times of politic instability, financial regulation failures, capital flights.
According to that, people was constantly predisposed to the crisis, every day more and more… threats of bankruptcy of the economy, news bombing and speculation… which madethe crisis happen!: the bad side of the pygmalion effect on massive scale due to the bank insolvency toward the amount of people trying to recover their money.
I think in financial terms as well as in economic terms, the mass thoughts about future or actual events can cause colapse in the system. Of course in this case there can be a self fulfilling prophecy, when the saver of money takes the money out of the bank, because he or she is afraid of collapse. Of course at the end that collapse would happen, because of the amount of people taking money from the bank. The financial entity would at the end go bankrupcty. A good economic aplication of the Pygmalion effect
ResponderEliminarthe never-ending problem with expectations and people, you never know when they are going to fail or be lower than the expected; in sensitives areas like banking and diplomacy, where the performance of individuals is vital; the problem is that confidence is necessary in this areas, because if the system doesn't believe in the individuals the growth will be imposible, so the basis of trust are needed for the society in general
ResponderEliminarThe financial crisis is a great example of the results obtained in a bad use of the Pygmalion effect. This problem affects not only the banks, it affects all the economy in general because knowing the "bancrupsy" of the bancks other companies started creating or changing their operation system increasing the expeculation about what would be happening, we can compare that situation with the past crisis in United States, where we can saw the reduction on employees oportunies, banckrup situations and mortgage crisis.
ResponderEliminarI can't believe how our minds work influencing many aspects of our lives, Speculation is one of the most incredible examples of this, how come someone says that asset's prices are going to fall or that economy will collapse and people around belive it and then it happens ?, and even worse how come we are aware of speculation and its consecuences but still we believe what speculatiors say, we panic, and we can avoid falling into the same thing all over again?
ResponderEliminarI really like that somebody posted some negative issues of the Pygmalion Effect.
ResponderEliminarIt shows that the Pygmalion effect is a tool that if used properly can bring great benefits, but if used incorrectly can cause disasters.
The good thing is that by being aware of this, people could try and avoid it. All is a matter of perception. You can either see the glass half full, which would have a positive effect, of the glass half empty, which would have a negative one.
I think your post is great, because it defines the Pygmalion effect as a neutral force, and to the readers this means that they should pay attention to it, not only for the benefits it can bring, but for the negative consequences it can also have. So it shows that you can`t ignore it.
It`s part of our lives whether we want it or not.