In one classic study of the effect of expectations, teachers told about a group of students within their class, and told that the kids had been “discovered” as overlooked geniuses. They were told the students’ whose brilliance hadn’t shown up in their schoolwork because they’d not been challenged enough.

The teachers weren’t allowed to tell the students about this discovery, and were asked to conduct their classes as planned. The students had, in fact, been randomly selected by computer. Yet what do you think happened by the end of the year?

The students showed improve school results, improved attitude, and even–get this–higher IQ scores. In reality, of course, the students had been randomly selected by a computer. They had no particular genius, but the teachers now believed they did– and that made all the difference.

In study after study, people of all ages and walks of life have proven that they will live up — or down — to your expectations. The school-setting study was repeated in many different forms, with always the same results.