Here’s your 101 guide to what are self fulfilling prophecies…
We have all had times when we woke up with a bad start to the day – perhaps because we stubbed our toe against the bed, found the toothpaste tube empty, or maybe had to take a brain-freezing, cold shower. When such things happen, we often tend to think something along the lines of “it is just not going to be my day today,” “the world is against me,” or “nothing is going to go right today.”
And lo and behold! You may conclude that your “gut feeling” was right all along, and everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Then worry not! This is not your bad luck – what you have experienced is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The term “self-fulfilling prophecy” was first coined by Robert K. Merton in 1948 to describe “a false definition of a given situation evoking a behavior which makes the originally false conception come true.
Simply speaking, self-fulfilling prophecies are the misrepresentation, false beliefs, or expectations that we hold about a person or event in the future, which influence our behavior at the subconscious level, thereby causing the manifestation of the hypothetical scenario into actual reality.
This does not, however, go on to say that an individual’s expectations would always influence the situation in how they think. However, there may be times when these conceptions might come true due to the person’s actions.
The Great Depression-era bank failures are a classic example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Bank runs occasionally caused banks with solid financial standing to go bankrupt.
When a belief that the bank could not pay its deposits spread, depositors frequently panicked and tried to withdraw their money immediately before the bank’s funds ran out. The bank did become insolvent when it was unable to pay all of the withdrawals. Thus, an originally false conception brought about its realization.
The self-fulfilling prophecy is also sometimes referred to as the “Bootstrapped induction,” “Barnesian performativity,” or “The Oedipus effect.”
1. How Does a False Definition Lead to A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?
The term “self-fulfilling prophecy” is self-explanatory and, thus, follows a simple law – You attract what you think. A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs because our expectations influence our behavior in a way we unconsciously affirm such beliefs by holding attitudes and thoughts or actions that attribute strength to the same.
This shows the strong connection between one’s thoughts, actions, and subsequent outcomes. Our thoughts are the foundation of how we approach and experience life events. Thus, they determine actions to a large extent – thoughts about a particular subject define whether the action taken by us towards it would be negative or positive. Would we do well academically? Would we put in efforts in the sports field? Then comes outcomes, simply the consequence of an action taken and aligning with the initial beliefs.
These internal beliefs/thoughts can be either positive or negative and have a rippling effect. For instance, consider a person who believes they were born to live a successful life.
Such a mindset would lead the person to act in ways contributing to this goal. If they believe that putting in more effort would yield favorable results, they are likely to do so, fulfilling the initial beliefs. Thus, the person unknowingly contributes to the fulfillment of thoughts.
Similarly, suppose there is a person who believes that life is meaningless and one cannot achieve anything no matter how hard one tries. In that case, they are less likely to put in any effort and may engage in behaviors such as letting go of an opportunity or lazying around, which is likely to make their negative thoughts come true.
Thus, simply put, self-fulfilling prophecies are cyclical:
- A person holds a belief/expectation/thought
- The person’s expectations influence their behavior/actions
- The person acts in such a way that their internal beliefs come true
- This leads to the self-fulfilling of the prophecy
- The cycle starts all over again
In other words, a self-fulfilling prophecy is in the form of a feedback loop wherein two or more elements.
2. Types of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
There Are Namely Two Types of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies:
2.1. Self-Imposed Prophecies
Self-imposed prophecies occur when one’s expectations about a person or situation influence behavior towards it in a manner that confirms the expectations. For, eg, A person believes that he will ace his job interview. He shows up for the interview on time, is well dressed, and feels confident.
When it is his turn, he responds to all the questions enthusiastically and professionally. On being selected, he tells his family and friends that he already knew he would be selected for the position.
2.2. Other Imposed Prophecies
Other imposed prophecies occur when others’ expectations influence a person’s behavior. For example, a fortune teller tells a woman that she will find the love of her life in the next three months.
These other imposed expectations imposed upon the woman motivate her to go on dates, due to which she ends up meeting a man and falling in love with him. Had she not been told that she would find the love of her life, she may not have put in the effort to go outside and meet new people.
3. Positive vs. Negative Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
As mentioned before, self-fulfilling prophecies can have both positive and negative effects. According to positive psychology, positive self-talk can lead to self-motivation, which in turn helps a person achieve their goals. When we tell ourselves “we can do it” or “we will get through this,” we engage in positive psychology.
Conversely, a pessimistic person may engage in negative self-talk and may think along the lines of “this is impossible to solve” or “life is awful.” Their negative talk may also include thoughts or beliefs that may harm other groups, even symbolically. Both cases, however, would lead to positive and negative consequences, respectively, to the realization of the self-fulfilling prophecy.
4. Interpersonal Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
The self-fulfilling prophecies can be intrapersonal (wherein a person’s beliefs influence behavior) or interpersonal (wherein a person’s beliefs influence others’ behavior).
Interpersonal relationships are affected by self-fulfilling prophecy and vice versa. Interpersonal expectancy effects refer to how an individual/group’s expectations about another person/group bring about the predicted action.
4.1. Pygmalion Effect
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It is an example of another imposed self-fulfilling prophecy involving interpersonal processes. It states: “When we expect certain behaviors of others, we are likely to act in a manner that makes those expected behaviors more likely to occur (Rosenthal & Babad, 1985).”
An experiment was conducted by Rosenthal and Jacobsen in the 1960s to explore how teacher expectations of students influenced student performance more than any other talent or hard work. The researchers chose five students at random from each class in an elementary school.
They falsely told the teachers that these students had taken a test to measure intellectual development and had been identified as ‘academic spurters’, meaning that they would have higher intellectual growth and outperform their peers during the academic year.
Later, the researchers gathered performance data for the year to compare the “average students” from the “growth spurters.” Since the students were selected at random, logically speaking, student achievement scores should have been the same. However, it was found that the teacher’s expectations from the academic spurters caused them to perform better.
Since the students were not told of these false test results, the only possible explanation for this difference is that teacher expectation influenced student performance. Thus, students performed differently depending on teacher expectations as the teachers gave more attention to the academic spurters expecting beneficial outcomes.
Here, the other-imposed expectations imposed on a person by the teacher were internalized by that person, thereby becoming a part of their self-concept, due to which the person acts parallel to their internal beliefs about themself.
These results of educational self-fulfilling prophecies were replicated in college-aged students as well. Studies carried out in algebra classes at the air force academy, engineering students, and many other universities found similar results.
The Pygmalion effect can also have a significant impact on work performance and career advancement in the workplace. When supervisors are informed that recently graduated trainees are “among the best” when they join their team, this belief is likely to have a Pygmalion effect, leading the supervisors to assume that the employees perform better on the job than others for whom no special mention was given. Similarly, unfavorable connotations about a group of employees are likely to influence how they are viewed by their managers. If that is the expected performance, they can be evaluated as not meeting standards.
4.2. Placebo Effect
It is an example of an intrapersonal self-fulfilling prophecy. In experimental social psychology, participants are split into two groups: the control group and the treatment group. The latter receives treatment or manipulation of the variable whose effect the researcher is interested in studying, while the former receives “fake” or no treatment at all.
However, in the control group, when there is an improvement in the subject’s performance over several clinical trials solely due to the belief that they received “meaningful treatment,” it is called a placebo effect. Research on the placebo effect has proved how beliefs can cause self-fulfilling prophecies.
5. The Psychology Behind a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
In psychological science, a self-fulfilling prophecy is when a person predicts a future outcome and realizes it. However, the outcome was not based on any logical evidence or findings. Thus, in a self-fulfilling prophecy, one’s expectations become the cause of an outcome. In other words, the expected behavior/situation evoking a self-fulfilling prophecy occurs merely because it was expected.
In social psychology, self-fulfilling prophecy is similar to confirmation bias (the human tendency to focus on evidence that is in line with one’s existing belief structure and neglect other evidence that contradicts it) or placebo effect, as described above.
Generally, one’s thought patterns, or cognition called “schema,” influence or lead to new behavior, which can help bring about the realization of the outcome. This leads to the fulfillment of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
6. Examples of A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
6.1. Relationship Between a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Interpersonal Communication
Self-fulfilling prophecies affect close relationships and vice versa, even if the parties involved are not consciously aware of this. For instance, in a friendship, a person’s negative thoughts may lead them to believe that their friend is gossiping about them behind their back, even if that is not true. Due to this negative thinking, they may act cold and harsh with their friend.
To the friend, unaware of the person’s thoughts, such behavior may seem cruel, due to which the friend might end up talking about the person behind their back. This is how negative expectations can have not only negative effects on a relationship but may also lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
6.2. Stereotype Threat as A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Stereotypes are a major implication of self-fulfilling prophecies. Stereotypes are widely held beliefs or views about an individual or group based on little or no ground evidence. Thus, when we hold beliefs or expectations about someone, we tend to act in a manner that affirms those expectations.
For instance, we are told that people belonging to a particular religion act in a conservation manner. The next time we meet someone who belongs to this religion, we will likely view them as traditional or orthodox, even if they do nothing to confirm our beliefs. Thus, a self-fulfilling prophecy plays an important role in how the stereotypes in the social structure are maintained and reinforced.
Claude Steele conducted survey research on stereotype threat to prove that when students fear that their poor academic performance could unknowingly confirm a stereotype about their social group, they end up performing poorly, thus leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Stereotype threat has been particularly measured in high-achieving African-American and female student(s).
6.3. Employee Creativity
A study published in The Journal of Management investigated how employees’ creativity was impacted by their bosses’ high expectations for it. Supervisors were perceived as being more supportive of creativity when they had higher expectations for the employees’ creativity. This, in turn, inspired workers to be more imaginative. The Pygmalion effect is a form of positive self-fulfilling prophecy that bears the name of a Cypriot king.
7. How Can One Gain Control Over Self-Fulfilling Prophecies?
Being aware of negative self-talk and following positive psychology to engage in a positive one can help in leading to more desirable outcomes, thus using a self-fulfilling prophecy to one’s advantage.
To do this, think about beliefs you have accepted as factual or true. Then ask yourself the question – “Are they based on actual proof or evidence?”, “Would harboring such beliefs help me in the long run?” or “Are these beliefs/thoughts harmful in any way?”
Based on your answers to the above questions, you can evaluate whether a change in your thought process is required or not. Although changing one’s mindset can be a tough process, giving up being stubborn and enhancing your curiosity is the best way to learn and grow. Only those people able to grow who are flexible and need to constantly gain self-insight into their thoughts, which in turn provides them information about whether certain behavior/thought patterns are adaptive.
Reframing one’s language is also very helpful in being more optimistic. Saying “I can” or “I will” instead of “I can’t” or “I will not” can be much more favorable in the long run towards developing a healthy mindset about self and others.
However, it is important not to overestimate the role of a self-fulfilling prophecy. They play a real yet modest role in our everyday lives. Solely relying on “manifestation” and expecting the desired outcome can be misleading and upsetting. It is only when the thoughts are accompanied by actions to make them come true that the self-fulfilling prophecy is realized.
Although negative thoughts can become a reality, the converse is also true – you can make positive thoughts your reality. So, if the latter option is available, why engage in pessimistic behavior? This is how we can use the power of the self-fulfilling prophecy in the most meaningful manner possible.
Last Updated on by kalidaspandian
