How you treat someone can raise their IQ

(From my original Blogspot)

How we treat others greatly impacts their experience in life. The following is a dramatic illustration of this concept.

A well known study by Rosenthal and Jacobsen, conducted in 1968, attempted to illuminate how labels can affect treatment and outcomes. Students were assigned, at random, to two different groups: either "bloomers" or just average. Teachers were told that the students in the blooming group were brilliant, and just about to explode with intelligence. Nothing was said about the other group. After one year, the students' IQ's were tested. " The results showed that students labeled as "bloomers" had realized dramatic gains, while the control group did not.

I love this study because it shows how both labeling a person and reacting to them in a certain way can impact that individual's behavior and choices. This is not to say that individuals do not have the freedom to choose, but rather that as we interact with people, we co-create their experiences. We actively help or hinder those we touch by the way we view them and treat them.