The Psychology Of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
A detailed look at how self-fulfilling prophecies work
Self-fulfilling prophecies involve how an individual's or group’s beliefs influence their actions, which can then lead to certain results that confirm those beliefs. Although self-fulfilling prophecies can be influential, not every idea a person has comes true. However, there are occasions when conceptions and thoughts can manifest into reality through expectations.
When it comes to self-fulfilling prophecies, there may be a link between thoughts, actions, and subsequent outcomes. Your thoughts can set the foundation for much of what you do and experience in life. Often, the quality of an individual's thoughts determines how they see the world, the people they associate with, and the actions they decide to take.
A self-fulfilling prophecy is thought to work in the following way:
- People or a group form expectations about themselves, a group, or an individual.
- These expectations are communicated through words, gestures, or actions.
- People change their behavior to match the message.
- The expectation becomes a reality.
- The reality confirms the expectation.
This cycle of reinforcing a belief is not only something a person does to themselves. A group, such as the management team of a workforce, can have an expectation about an individual or a group, which then follows this pattern of self-fulfillment. For example, business managers often use this principle in a positive way to motivate employees toward higher job performance. Research on the effects of positive self-fulfilling prophecy in the workplace has found a strong connection between bosses’ expectations and their workers’ performance on the job. This effect is sometimes called the Pygmalion effect, named after a Greek myth.
Self-fulfilling prophecies have also been extensively studied in sociology and social psychology, where they are often referred to as the Rosenthal effect. One example of this involves the expectations of a person doing scientific research influencing the outcome of their study. A possible solution to this problem is called “blinding” an investigation. An example of a blinded study is one where the researchers do not know which participants received a drug they are testing and which received a placebo.
Self-fulfilling prophecies can also occur in the classroom. An example of a self-fulfilling prophecy can happen when teachers’ expectations for students cause the students to behave in a way that confirms the original expectations, which can influence long-term student performance. For example, a teacher’s expectations for students from low-income backgrounds might be lower than their expectations for middle-class students. This lowered expectation can lead to a decrease in student performance over time, which makes the teacher’s initial false conception come true.
Interpersonal relationships and self-fulfilling prophecies
Self-fulfilling prophecies can manifest in many ways, and interpersonal relationships can be affected by this phenomenon, even if the parties are not consciously aware of it. These types of self-reinforcing beliefs can happen in romantic relationships, in friendships, and with family.
For example, a person may think their friend is gossiping behind their back or is otherwise not as benevolent or loyal as they appear on the surface. This could lead the person to distance themselves from the person they once considered a friend. The friend in this scenario, who may or may not have been gossiping behind the other's back, may then begin to wonder why the other person is rejecting them. Over time, this could lead to resentment, and the friend may start gossiping behind the other person's back, even if they were not doing so initially.
Another example of this is how one views people in general. For example, some individuals think everyone is out to get them and harm them somehow. This expectation can lead them to elicit rejection. On the other hand, a different individual who believes there are plenty of good people in the world may be likelier to attract these types of people and relationships into their lives.
Two types of self-fulfilling prophecy
In the field of psychology, there tend to be two types of self-fulfilling prophecies: self-imposed and other-imposed. In a self-imposed prophecy, an individual’s expectations are the causal factor for their actions. In other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecies, others’ expectations of an individual or group affect the actions of that individual or group. Other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecies may influence racial and gender stereotyping and discrimination. For example, suppose a person has certain expectations based on social beliefs about a particular group of people. In that case, they might treat people of that group accordingly and elicit behavior that fits the false stereotype they believe about them.
A key feature of both types of self-fulfilling prophecies is that a false belief spurs behavior that makes a person act as if the ideas were real, which can reinforce the expectation.
How to change negative self-fulfilling prophecies
Research in social science and psychology suggests that negative beliefs about oneself can lead to adverse outcomes. These outcomes can then reinforce the negative conceptions in a vicious cycle. Once in place, these core negative beliefs, ideas, or expectations about oneself, other people, or the world can give rise to various poor outcomes. For example, when a person starts to believe they are flawed, they may be more likely to place themselves in situations evoking negative consequences. In addition, this negative cycle can lead to mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. However, there are ways to improve our thinking that can lead to new, positive behaviors and outcomes.
One method may be through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT.) CBT can often help a person uncover core irrational or negative beliefs and replace them with more rational and accurate thoughts, images, and expectations. Invoking positive thinking and rational thoughts can lead to new perspectives and, eventually, a positive shift in beliefs and behaviors.
Corrective action through treatments such as CBT can encourage a person to confront problems instead of avoiding them. For example, situations evoking fear or negative thoughts can lead a person to believe that their challenges are unavoidable. In contrast, by learning to face problems, the person may be more likely to pursue positive actions in the future. The more coping strategies a person has for overcoming negative thoughts when they arise, the more equipped they may be at breaking a negative self-fulfilling prophecy.
Online therapy for self-fulfilling prophecies
If you’re interested in exploring CBT but feel hesitant to see a therapist in the office, you might consider online therapy, which research has found to be effective for a variety of concerns, including anxiety and depression. A study published in 2017 also found CBT to be cost-effective for patients.
Online therapy can serve as a convenient way to talk to a therapist about negative thoughts that might be leading to self-fulfilling prophecies. With BetterHelp, you can quickly connect with a licensed therapist via video chat sessions, phone calls, and text messaging, so you don’t even need to leave your home to receive support.
Takeaway
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
A self-fulfilling prophecy generally means a situation in which expectations or beliefs bring about their own fulfillment. This can happen in many different domains of life, including:
- Friendship
- Romance
- School
- Careers and the workplace
- Domestic and international politics
- Sports
- The arts and popular culture
- Everyday socializing with strangers
What is an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy?
One classic example of a self-fulfilling prophecy in action is a person “psyching themself out” before an important event.
Let’s say you have an upcoming job interview, and you’re convinced that you’ll do poorly because it’s your first time job hunting in years. You become preoccupied with the fear of messing something up. When the day of the interview arrives, you’re so distracted by thoughts of failure that you can’t think clearly. As a result, you flub the interview and you don’t get the job.
In this hypothetical, your initial belief that you would do poorly may have sabotaged your performance. You acted in a way that caused your expected outcome to occur.
The example above describes a “self-imposed” self-fulfilling prophecy. However, another common type of self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when people are influenced by other people’s expectations. A well-known example in psychology is the way that teacher’s expectations appear to affect student academic performance. If an instructor’s behavior sends children the message that they’re unlikely to perform well, they may be less motivated, more anxious, and less able to concentrate in the classroom.
These “other-imposed” self-fulfilling prophecies may lead people to internalize the expectations they perceive in others. This can lead to a situation in which both external and internal factors reinforce negative beliefs. The low-achieving students in the above example might come to believe that they’re simply less intelligent and unlikely to do well in school, potentially strengthening the self-fulfilling prophecy.
How do you break free from a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Overcoming a negative self-fulfilling prophecy may require building up qualities like self-awareness, confidence, optimism, and acceptance. These factors can often help people let go of their negative ideas about themselves and shrug off negative expectations from others.
Learning to better recognize self-fulfilling prophecies can be a helpful first step. If you start paying attention to your thoughts and behavior, you may start to see how often you respond to negative thoughts with self-defeating actions. For instance, you may notice that you react to worries about failing an upcoming test by distracting yourself with social media instead of studying.
As you begin to spot these patterns, you can often start to let go of your unhelpful expectations. Practicing positive self-talk may help — for instance, if you start thinking “I’m no good at this”, you can tell yourself “I’m working hard and getting better.” Mindfulness meditation can also help with both recognizing and overcoming habits of anxiety and pessimism.
Another strategy that may be helpful is self-affirmation, which involves identifying and focusing on personal values. This technique can help nurture a sense of self-worth that’s independent of expectations related to one’s group or past performance. A substantial body of research indicates that self-affirmation can improve performance for people from disadvantaged backgrounds who are faced with negative stereotypes.
Therapy may also be extremely valuable in rising above self-limiting beliefs. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, a treatment that focuses on teaching clients to identify and reframe unhelpful ideas, has been shown to improve confidence while decreasing anxiety and depression.
Is negativity a self-fulfilling prophecy?
For some people, a negative outlook can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you’re constantly telling yourself that things won’t go well, you may have a harder time achieving the kind of life you want than someone without such expectations.
You may have seen this dynamic at work in your social sphere. Have you ever known someone who seemed to be constantly expecting to get into arguments? People with this attitude often adopt aggressive body language and react harshly to even mild disagreements. Often, the result is that they wind up clashing with everyone around them — just as they predicted.
What is the opposite of self-fulfillment?
Self-fulfillment typically refers to the achievement of one’s potential and the realization of one’s goals. The opposite might be something like self-denial or self-abnegation, in which a person sacrifices their well-being, desires, and goals for the sake of some other person or principle. Some people may feel that either self-fulfillment or self-denial is a more moral approach to life, while others might consider them both appropriate in different circumstances.
Although they’re similar-sounding terms, “self-fulfillment” and a “self-fulfilling prophecy” aren’t quite the same thing. In fact, negative prophecies may represent a kind of self-sabotage in which a person blocks themself from the things that mean the most to them.
Is loneliness a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Loneliness may result from a negative self-fulfilling prophecy. If a person is convinced that they are unlikeable or unlovable, they might become hesitant to try to make social connections due to a fear of rejection. A lack of confidence may be particularly detrimental in romantic life, since it could diminish a person’s perceived attractiveness.
People may also create self-fulfilling prophecies of loneliness by assuming that they won’t be able to find other people seeking a connection. A long-term study of UK residents found that those who believed that loneliness in old age was inevitable were more likely to end up alone when they were older. If social connections are important to you, cultivating an optimistic attitude may be helpful.
What's another word for self-fulfilling prophecy?
Some other terms for a self-fulfilling prophecy include:
- Barnesian performativity, named after researcher Barry Barnes, whose 1983 paper described a common pattern of self-reinforming feedback loops in social behavior.
- Bootstrapped induction, the term Barnes himself used to describe his theory.
- The Pygmalion effect, named for a sculptor in a story by the Roman poet Ovid. In this tale, Pygmalion carves a sculpture of a beautiful woman and then falls so deeply in love with it that the goddess of love transforms it into a real woman.
- The Oedipus effect, another mythology-based term. According to legend, Oedipus’s parents received a prophecy that their son would kill his father and marry his mother. They abandon him to prevent this fate, but he winds up being raised by foster parents. In the end, Oedipus fulfills the prophecy precisely because he doesn’t know who his real father and mother were.
What are the main causes of self-fulfilling prophecies?
Self-fulfilling prophecies may come about in different ways depending on whether they’re self-induced or other-induced. Self-induced prophecies may come about due to the effect of expectations on things like:
- Motivation. If someone believes they have a good chance to succeed at something, they may work harder at it than someone who thinks they’ll fail no matter what.
- Focus. Anticipating negative outcomes could lead to feelings of anxiety that distract you and hamper your performance.
- Confidence. Self-fulfilling prophecies in the social realm may have a lot to do with how relaxed and confident people appear. Someone who thinks of themself as likable may come across as friendly and open, increasing their chances of making friends.
- Physical health. Positive expectations can trigger a variety of changes within the body, such as the release of endorphins, that promote health. And better health may boost your effort to succeed in many different areas of life.
Other-induced self-fulfilling prophecies may function partly through subtle effects on interpersonal communication. Teachers with low expectations of their students may express these negative attitudes through things like tone and body language, diminishing the children’s confidence and hurting their intellectual growth.
Self-fulfilling prophecies might also operate on the level of the entire social structure in which people live and interact. If many people believe that a particular ethnic group is less likely to succeed in life, they may be less likely to extend important opportunities to members of that group.
Are self-fulfilling prophecies good?
There are many examples of positive self-fulfilling prophecies. For instance, a study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology reported that passionate employees may perform better at work partly because their co-workers believe they will.
Other positive outcomes from self-fulfilling prophecies can be even more dramatic. Sometimes, they can be life-saving: the placebo effect, in which people recover from illness because they believe they’ve been given effective treatment, could be considered an example of a positive self-fulfilling prophecy.
However, as we’ve seen above, there are also many ways in which self-fulfilling prophecies can lead to harmful results. The human tendency to fulfill our own expectations may not be inherently good or bad.
What are the types of self-fulling prophecies?
Many theorists recognize two primary types of self-fulfilling prophecies:
- Self-induced prophecies, in which a person’s fears, desires, convictions, or anticipatory beliefs influence their behavior in self-confirming ways.
- Other-induced prophecies, in which people’s expectations of each other subtly shape their interactions, leading to reactions that seem to justify their original beliefs.
- Previous Article
- Next Article