Pygmalion, Galatea, and the Golem: Investigations of biased and unbiased teachers

Examined differential expectancy effects as a function of teachers' susceptibility to biasing information and the distinction between positive ("Galatea") and negative ("Golem") outcomes of teacher expectancies. 26 biased and unbiased student teachers were identified on the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of educational psychology 1982-08, Vol.74 (4), p.459-474
Main Authors: Babad, Elisha Y, Inbar, Jacinto, Rosenthal, Robert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
High School Students
High School Teachers
Human
Information
Status
Teacher Expectations
Teacher Student Interaction
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Examined differential expectancy effects as a function of teachers' susceptibility to biasing information and the distinction between positive ("Galatea") and negative ("Golem") outcomes of teacher expectancies. 26 biased and unbiased student teachers were identified on the basis of their susceptibility to biasing information in scoring drawings allegedly made by high- or low-status students. High-bias teachers treated the students they perceived to be of low potential negatively while at the same time treating randomly selected students in a manipulated high-expectancy group as favorably as they treated the students they themselves nominated as being of high potential. Unbiased teachers treated all 3 groups of students ( N  = 202) equitably. The strongest and most consistent Golem effects were observed for behavioral manifestations of dogmatism. These patterns of differential negative expectancy effects were evident not only in teachers' behavior but also in students' actual performance of specially designed tasks. (27 ref)
ISSN:0022-0663
1939-2176
DOI:10.1037/0022-0663.74.4.459