Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Detrimental or Beneficial?
Last weekend, AWiB board members had a whole-day meeting. We began the day with an icebreaker of reflection. Three questions were asked and the first one was: What is your favorite day and why?
Most of us responded, Sunday for it was a day for self, reflection, family and rest. One of the ladies said, “I love MONDAY.” Curious to listen how our “black” Monday could be her “favorite” day, we asked intently “Why?” .“Monday is the first day of work – a new beginning, a new opportunity, a fresh start in spite of the past week’s ups and downs.” She continued, “So I plan the day accordingly, I wake up with smile and anticipation that it would be a wonderful beginning of the week, do my shopping on Mondays, and make sure that the day sets the tone of the week.” I said, “This is a WOW attitude!Though days are neutral, the way we take them determines our outcome. This lady believes that Monday is a representation of newness, freshness, revitalization and a chance for new beginnings. Hence, she acted accordingly.
Our belief system affects our attitude and behavior. Today I want us to focus on a concept related to our belief system called “self-fulfilling prophecy” an expression coined by Robert K. Merton. It is \”a false definition of situation evoking a new behavior which makes the original false conception comes true.\” Due to positive feedback between belief and behavior, what you believe will come true because you will, subconsciously and consciously, act in ways that cause the event to happen.
This inaccurate validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For “the prophet” will cite the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning.In other words, a prophecy declared as truth when it is actually false may sufficiently influence people, through either fear or logical confusion, so that their reactions ultimately fulfill the one prophesied false.
This was based on a sociologist called, Thomas theorem, which states, \”If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.\” According to Thomas, people react not only to the situations they are in, but also, and often primarily, to the way they perceive the situations and to the meaning they assign to these perceptions. Therefore, their behavior is determined in part by their perception and the meaning they ascribe to the situations they are in, rather than by the situations themselves. Once people convince themselves that a situation really has a certain meaning, regardless of whether or not it actually does, they will take very real actions in consequence.
Self-fulfilling prophecy and self-confidence: Take the case of a guy who lacks self-confidence. This person believes that the people around him are not really interested in him or in what he says. In a group situation, this person rarely speaks and will stay in the corner and refuse to join conversations. This made the others feel that the guy does not want to belong to the group so they do not include him in the conversation or in-group activities. The person\’s prophesy that he is not well liked has indeed come true. In other words, his low self-confidence is reflected in his relationship which he predicted to be bad and that solidified his low regard for himself.
A person\’s fear is usually a self-fulfilling prophesy. This means that more often than not, a person\’s fear becomes a reality because the one who fears unknowingly and unconsciously does things that will give rise to the prophesy and will end up fearing the thing that they fear the most. Take for example the fear of growing old. Persons who fear that they will become useless and unwanted by society when they reach a certain age will most probably sulk in the corner and manifest that fear when the time comes. Because of this belief, these persons will tend to think of themselves as useless members of the society, and they even act out that belief. Thus, when they reach the golden years or beyond, they stop functioning and withdraw from society. They have fulfilled their own prophesy of becoming useless members of society.Self-doubts and fear fuel self-fulfilling prophecies that create a vicious negative spiral.
Self-fulfilling prophecy in education:One\’s beliefs about other people determine how one acts towards them, and thus play a role in determining the behavior that result. Self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when teachers’ expectations prompt students to behave or perform in a way that conforms to those expectancies. The effects of teacher attitudes, beliefs and values, affecting their expectations have been tested repeatedly. What we expect, all too often, becomes exactly what we get. In experiments conducted in USA, teachers were told (falsely) that 20% of the students in their class were selected randomly and communicated to the teachers as those were \”intellectual bloomers\” on the verge of dramatic intellectual development. The teachers were explained that these children could be expected to show remarkable gains during the year. When the students were tested eight months later, the \”special\” students outperformed their peers, fulfilling the prediction that had been made about them. The experimental children showed average IQ. The \”intellectual bloomers\” really did bloom! During the intervening period, the teachers had apparently behaved in ways that facilitated the students\’ intellectual development, perhaps by giving them increased attention and support and setting higher goals for them.
It is not just teachers’ expectations that matter the most but also students’ expectations. For example, if students perceive their physics teacher as strict and boring, they will also perceive the subject as a boring subject. This perception becomes self-fulfilling when the students, believing that their teacher and subject are boring, will lose interest in the lesson. Once they lose interest in their lessons, they will not appreciate the things that the teacher will impart and will thus fulfill the prophecy that the teacher and the subject are in fact boring.
Self-fulfilling prophecies in relationship:While one’s attitude cannot necessarily influence the natural things, such as the possibility of a storm or a draught, however, one’s attitude can influence things like the way we relate to other people and their responses to us.A self-fulfilling prophecy in relationship is simply a cause-and-effect scenario that has been repeatedly proven true. If you treat a person this way because you believe that he or she is this kind of person, then in the long run, that person will behave and act the way you want him to be.For example, there is evidence from experimental studies showing that believing that you are not liked is a self-fulfilling prophecy in that it leads you to change your behavior, act out ugliness, which in turn makes you less easily liked. Another example is a person who expects people to be friendly, may smile more and thus receive more smiles, while a person expecting to be lucky, may enter many more competitions and thus increases their chances of winning.
In the case of a husband and a wife, if the wife thinks he will cheat on her, he probably will. There are several possible reasons for this self-fulfilling prophecy. It is possible that she knew that she was entering into the relationship that he had been unfaithful in the past. Maybe he left his last relationship to be with her. Perhaps it is not just about him; rather it could be about her lack of trust or fear of intimacy. Whatever the reason for her belief, her actions may set him up to cheat and set her up to get hurt. This is how self-fulfilling prophecies work. For instance, if she treats him with distrust and suspicion, he will be more likely to live up to his wife’s expectations. If she refuses to believe him when he tells her the truth, he will see no reason to stay honest. In general, her expectations shape her future. Whether he cheats or not, she may hurt but at the same time feels okay because it is not “her fault.”
The simple truth is that almost all of us behave pretty much according to the way we have been treated. This also works in our relationships with our children. If you keep telling your teenager, for example, that he is worthless, has no sense of right or wrong and is not going to amount to anything, he will probably respond accordingly. On the other hand, if you sincerely keep telling him that he is important to you that you have every confidence in his judgment as to what is right or wrong and that you are sure he is going to be successful in whatever he decides to do, he will also tend to respond accordingly. You transmit those expectations to him and he will begin to reflect the image you have created for him.
A positive spin on self-fulfilling prophecies:If self-fulfilling prophecies work for negative outcomes, isn’t it possible that they can work for positive outcomes as well? Because life is simply more interesting and enjoyable with a positive perspective, we can work on positive side of self-fulfilling prophecy. A woman, who believes that she can do something, will most often be able to achieve that thing because of her motivation and determination.
A person who is going to have a good day, might not get a taxi to go to work, but then get a ride from a friend, in which a useful conversation takes place. Even if a colleague seems nasty, the person might negotiate the situation to come to a healthy resolution. If the children are fighting at home, this might be an opportunity to use one’s parenting skills, and an uncooked dinner might mean a chance to give a break to the stomach or to eat outside home. The positive self-fulfilling prophecy allows one to shift interpretation of events.
In organizational settings, the best managers have confidence in themselves and in their ability to hire, develop and motivate people; largely because of their self-confidence, they communicate high expectations to others. These managers will not feel intimidated by the subordinates’ growth, creativity and valuable input; rather; the managers facilitate the subordinates’ participation and advancement. Affected by the manager’s attitude and behavior, the subordinate acts in a manner that will fulfill the boss’prophecy.
Understanding positive attitudes and the self-fulfilling prophecy are now particularly helpful in dealing with long-term mental illness like anxiety disorder, or chronic pain. In that perception and prediction of an illness’ course tends to influence experience of the illness. Hence, therapists focus on learning to alter perception to reduce chronic pain, or events like panic attacks. In this way, understanding of the self-fulfilling prophecy has led to greater success in treating difficult illnesses.
The concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy can be summarized in these key principles:First, we form certain expectations of people or events. Second, we communicate those expectations with various cues.Third, people tend to respond to these cues by adjusting their behavior to match them.The result is that the original expectation becomes true.This creates a circle of self-fulfilling prophecies.The only way to break the cycle of self-fulfilling prophecy is by redefining the propositions on which its false assumptions are originally based. People will often change their attitudes to come into line with what they profess publicly.