self-fulfilling prophecy

Examples of self-fulfilling prophecy in the following topics:

• Teachers' Expectations

  • This is a case of a self-fulfilling prophecy, or the Pygmalion effect.
  • The Pygmalion effect is a form of self-fulfilling prophecy, and, in this respect, people will internalize their negative label, and those with positive labels succeed accordingly.
  • Rosenthal posited that biased expectancies can essentially affect reality and create self-fulfilling prophecies as a result.
  • Research on the stereotype threat has shown that gender stereotypes decrease the mathematical self-esteem of many female students, and that this lack of academic confidence leads to anxiety and poorer performance on math exams.

• Ray Rist's Research

  • In his 1970 article, "Student Social Class and Teachers' Expectations: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Ghetto Education," Ray Rist observed an African American classroom with an African American teacher.

• The Labeling Approach

  • The theory is concerned with how the self-identity and behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them.
  • It is associated with the concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping .
  • Certain expectations are placed on these individuals and, over time, they unconsciously change their behavior to fulfill them.
  • Criteria for different mental illnesses, he believed, are not consistently fulfilled by those who are diagnosed with them because all of these people suffer from the same disorder.
  • Criteria are simply fulfilled because the "mentally ill" believe they are supposed to act a certain way—over time, they come to do so.

• Labeling Theory

  • The theory is concerned with how the self-identity and the behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them.
  • George Herbert Mead posited that the self is socially constructed and reconstructed through the interactions which each person has with the community.
  • They become a self-fulfilling prophecy: an individual who is labeled has little choice but to conform to the essential meaning of that judgment.

• Research Examples

  • Kohn found that lower class parents were more likely to emphasize conformity in their children whereas middle-class parents were more likely to emphasize creativity and self-reliance.
  • Ellis et. al. proposed and found that parents value conformity over self-reliance in children to the extent that conformity superseded self-reliance as a criterion for success in their own endeavors.
  • Finally, the retirement home community encouraged a culture of life and fulfillment in part to counter-act the frequency of death.
  • In other words, tracks can turn into a type of self-fulfilling prophecy: you may start out at the same level as someone in a higher track, but by the time you have completed the lower track you will have become like the other students in your track.

• Child Abuse

  • Effects of child sexual abuse include guilt and self-blame, flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, and fear of things associated with the abuse.
  • Neglect may include the failure to provide sufficient supervision, nourishment, or medical care, or the failure to fulfill other needs for which the victim is helpless to provide for himself or herself.
  • Neglect can have many long-term side effects, such as physical injuries, low self-esteem, attention disorders, violent behavior, and even death.