Opportunities for respect come across our paths in all different areas of life. When we’re at work, home, alone, driving, eating… you name it. Societally, we’re told that respect is to be shown to people in positions of authority. When we’re kids, it’s our parents, then our teachers, then our bosses. Rarely are we reminded to show respect towards ourselves, or others in non authoritative positions. When we equate respect as something to be shown only towards positions of power, we confuse ourselves with what respect truly means and how empowering it can be when we offer it to ourselves and others. 

Lets Define Respect

Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or differential action shown towards someone or something considered in high regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. 

Respect is a two way street. 

As we place respect on authority figures, it’s important that those in highly esteemed positions are displaying qualities of good virtue. When we display those qualities towards ourselves and others we should be respected in the same regard. 

The Pygmalion Effect

In the early 1960s The Pygmalion Effect was discovered. The original study consisted of a group of psychology students who were told to conduct an experiment on rats' ability to run a maze. They either received a Maze-Bright rat (thought to be genetically more intelligent) or a Maze-Dull rat (thought to be less intelligent). In reality the rats were randomly assigned these labels. 

The group of students with the rats labeled ‘bright’ turned out to handle their rats friendlier, more enthusiastically and gentler than the ‘dull’ group. Roesnthal concluded that the psychology students had subconsciously favored the maze-bright rats in the ways they handled them. Thus concluding that when rats are treated with favorable or respectful management, they performed better.  

A similar study conducted by Harvard discovered significantly similar results for children in the classroom. Students whose teachers expressed greater warmth towards, offered more specific feedback to how the student performed, taught them more challenging material, and gave them more time to respond performed significantly better than kids who were greeted with less warmth, offered less feedback, given less challenging material and less time to respond. 

The point of bringing up these studies is to show the interesting psychology treating beings with respect has on their overall performance and self esteem. When we give people the opportunities to succeed, because we believe in them, they’re more likely to believe in themselves and succeed. It matters how we show up for others, and it matters how we show up for ourselves.  

4 Factors of Pragmatic communication

1. Take your time to give and receive feedback 
   
   

2. Develop a knowledge system for generating and managing the best inputs for everyone 

   
   

3. Output, give others time to experiment and space for failure 
   
   

4. Climate, be sure to be in and contribute to the best collaborating environment to support everyone's intellectual development 
   
   

How respect is displayed matters

When we consider the Pygmalion Effect, it's clear to see how by simply aligning our thoughts and interactions towards a person, we can influence their performance and uplift their overall wellbeing. 

Respect that is displayed from leadership down is a crucial part in influencing behavior. Affecting how employees showcase respect back towards leadership, towards themselves and others. The Pygmalion Effect insight on how our behaviors towards others impacts their self-esteem, self-perception and performance.