Do You Believe In The Self-Fulfiling Prophecy?
By ctobler0609
@ctobler0609 (361)
United States
July 1, 2008 10:32am CST
As defined in the Dictionary by Farlex:
Self-fulfilling prophecy: a concept developed by Robert K Merton to explain how a belief or expectation, whether correct or not, affects the outcome or of a situation of the way a person (or group) will behave. Thus, for example, labeling someone a "criminal" and treating that person as such, may foster criminal behavior in the person who is subjected to the expectation.
So again, the question is, do you believe in this prophecy? I do. I have seen many people treated a certain way and because they were constantly being made to feel that way, the outcome ends up being what the original expectation was. Now this has been for the better and for the worse. Can you share any examples where this may have happened in your life, or someone else's life that you know?
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5 responses
@chiyosan (30184)
• Philippines
9 Jul 08
well i think this is true, you are what you think you are. right? and yes, i have seen this with my niece who i guess was often told she is a bad girl by her maternal side family, this child only 4 years old told my mom.. i am a bad girl.. and we were too surprised we asked her who told her she is a bad person. and she only replied "they said". she is afraid to give names. but when my mom told her if you are here with us, do not think like that anymore because we love you and you are a good girl to us... since then we saw improvements in her behaviour, and she listens very well now...
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@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
6 Jul 08
I absolutely believe it and 'self fulfilling prophecy' is a term I've used often.
I've experienced it myself and have seen it first hand in others.
A simple example: If someone feels badly enough about themselves and thinks that no one cares for them, they will act in a manner that will make no one want to care for them.
Often they will blame others, when in reality it's something they expected to happen and basically caused to happen.
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@ESKARENA1 (18261)
•
6 Jul 08
as someone who works in criminology, i certainly see the outworkings of Merton's theory every day. Tell a child they are stupid long enough, they will start to believe it. This is benign, but tell a child they are bad, sooner or later not only do they believe it they start internalising it and acting in terms of the behaviour. One thinks of countre-cultures where the economically dispossesed males will generally adopt behaviour patterns linked to criminality, more often than not property crime. We see this in the UK, young black males are responsible for the majority of street crime, even though it is politically incorrect to say it. Perhaps instead of denying this essential truth we would be better served examining why such disaffected individuals choose this behaviour as an alternative lifestyle?
blessed be
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