Self-Fulfilling Prophecy as a Management Tool: Harnessing Pygmalion

A special case of self-fulfilling prophecy (SFP), the Pygmalion effect is the enhanced performance of subordinates of whom supervisors expect more.Pygmalion research in military and training situations is reviewed.Presented is a model of SFP at work involving supervisory expectancy, leadership, subordinate self-expectancy, motivation, and performance.Issues for future research and application are discussed, including how to raise expectations, which subordinates are influenced most, positive and negative Pygmalion, and ethical concerns.