PROBLEMS WITH THE PYGMALION EFFECT AND SOME PROPOSED SOLUTIONS Susan S. White* Edwin A. Locke University of Maryland Over the last few decades, the Pygmalion effect (i.e., the finding that leader expectations for subordinate performance can subconsciously affect leader behavior and subordinate performance) has been explored extensively. Numerous studies have clarified the effect, and mediating mecha- nisms of leadership and self-expectations have been identified. However, a number of factors limit the application of the Pygmalion effect to the workplace. These include its lack of generaliz- ability to women and established work groups, its subconscious nature, the ethical questions surrounding the deceptive procedure used to create the effect, and the failure of Pygmalion training. The primary purpose of this article is to present a review of these problems and to offer suggestions for dealing with them. In their classic 1968 book, Rosenthal and Jacobson described an experiment in which they told a group of elementary school teachers that an intelligence test had identified some of their students as “late bloomers.” The teachers were told to expect that these students would blossom in the coming year. In actuality, the children labeled as late bloomers were chosen at random. At the end of the year, the intelligence test was readministered to the students. Whereas the late bloomers and the control students had the same average score at the beginning of the year, the late bloomers’ average score was significantly higher than that of the control group at the second administration of the test. Interestingly, the teachers were unaware of having treated the experimental and control subjects differently. The Pygmalion effect (put in a managerial context) can be defined as the finding that * Direct all correspondence to: Susan S. White, PDRI, 1300 Wilson Blvd., Ste 1000, Arlington, VA 22209; e-mail: swhite@pdi-corp.com. Leadership Quarterly, 11(3), 389–415. Copyright  2000 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISSN: 1048-9843