Self-Fulfilling
Prophecy: How It Impacts Our Choices
Angela B. van Gerven
Department of Psychology
Saint Anselm College, New Hampshire
Acknowledgements
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my
appreciation to the entire Psychology Dept., especially to Professor
Maria McKenna, whose dedication to her students on a daily basis is
evident. Your generous help has never felt like an imposition.
Thank you Professor Flannery for nurturing my initial ideas that helped
foster my thesis. Thank you Barbara Bartlett for your unselfish desire
to accommodate copies with a warm and pretty smile and without a
moments notice. Thank you Professor Paul Finn, for your strong words of
encouragement when I thought I wasn’t smart enough to pass Behavioral
Statistics. You made me believe in myself when I believed there
was no hope. Thank you Janet Caron Dole, my best friend and
confidant. You were the impossible link that was necessary to
complete my education. Through good times and bad, you never let
me down. You made me realize that getting a “C” isn’t the end of
the world, that I am still the best that I can be, that it is more
important to accept one’s own shortcomings and concentrate on the
good. Finally, I would like to thank my beautiful precious
children who are at the core of my existence. It is for you that
my educational process began, for there is no greater reward than
knowledge. To my loving husband Raymond, thank you for completing
my world, for without you it wouldn’t make sense.
Abstract:
Many people throughout their lives experience uncertainty especially
with regard to their own interpretations or their own self-image. “A
self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when a perceiver’s false beliefs leads
to it’s (sic) own fulfillment” (Merton, l948 p. 195). Evidence
for a poor self-concept or a low self-esteem may in some instances
become a precursor for this problem. Certain social environmental
situations, whereby a stigmatized person feels inferior may also
heavily influence the choice for a self-fulfilling prophecy to
occur. Many significant aspects of this topic are evaluated which
can offer a reasonable explanation for the propensity for this to
happen, as well as a new perspective in a preventive measure by which
to follow in the future. top of
page
Introduction
Many prominent social scientists have had the courage to explore the
complications involved in defining self-concept and the interest that
lies in defining the role that a self-fulfilling prophecy may play in
our lives. Robert Merton is one who sheds light on this subject
through his explanation of the “late bloomer”, and the ability to
recognize excellence (Merton, l973). Here he is talking about a
test for “future doctors”, but can be utilized for all
professions. Certain personality types, such as “the rampart type
of ability, “the plateau type”, “the slow crescendo type”, and finally,
“the late-blooming type” are examples to illustrate this point (Merton,
l973). Merton goes on to explain that “the late bloomer” is so
slow in getting started and also that this type will be overlooked
(Merton, l973). Some of these “late bloomers” probably never get
to bloom at all, and these children are the ones who will fall through
the cracks because they never manage to make it on their own (Merton,
l973).
A critical point here is to understand that these children are
not recognized for their abilities and are subsequently overlooked by
the institutional system with little promise if any, to succeed
(Merton, l973). It is crucial to specify that it will be at this point
that the potentiality for these children to believe in themselves is
very poor and that their self-image is extremely low. Their own
image of potentiality and achievement has been tarnished. “And it
is the images that institutional authorities have of us that in
particular tend to become self-fulfilling images: if teachers,
inspecting our Iowa scores and our aptitude-test figures and comparing
our record with that of our age-peers, conclude that we’re run-of the
mine and treat us accordingly, then they lead us to become what they
think we are” (Merton, l973, p. 438).
In a study conducted by Jussim (l989), it was hypothesized that
teachers’ expectations sometimes produce a self-fulfilling
prophecy. Jussim (l989) tested this hypothesis by using data from
teachers and students in a sixth grade math class in a public school
district. She specifically looked at past achievements, teachers’
expectations, motivational variables such as self-concept, effort, and
time spent on homework, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic value on
math tests. As a result, both the grades and standardized test
scores provided measures for this performance which allowed comparisons
between teachers’ judgment as well as the students’ performance levels
(Jussim, l989).teacheexpectation factor (Jussim, l989).This study
cannot conclusively tell us that a self-fulfilling prophecy occurs as a
result of how these students perceive themselves with regard to a
classroom environment, but one might be persuaded to consider the
possibility.
Other more recent studies have shown us that there are some underlying
characteristics that help us understand how and why it happens that a
self-fulfilling process can take place. Some of these that apply
to us on a more personal level are for example: our own expectations, a
poor self-concept, our ego identity, or the need for self-verification.
On a more social level, where social interactions are more readily
conducted, complications could arise from stigmatization and the
expressions of prejudice may occur in an environment where people may
stereotype others. Also, attribution and performance and the
ability to create a social reality (Jussim, l99l) for ourselves are
possible. The challenge to begin to understand more about
the process and important factors that support the building blocks for
the criteria for a self-fulfilling prophecy can be best described
through our everyday experiences in social settings.
Because our choices should be positively motivated, the impact of our
poor choices can be detrimental to our own self worth. What then
can we expect in these social environments? As we can see,
studies that were conducted in the classroom provide some answers to
these questions. Interestingly, it was the expectations that
teachers had of their students that sometimes produced a
self-fulfilling prophecy (Jussim, l989).
Teacher Expectations and Student Achievements
In the same longitudal study that was performed by Jussim,
(l989), which consisted of sixth-grade math students, it was noted to
what extent a teacher’s expectations may predict a student’s
achievement level. Consistent with the self-fulfilling prophecy,
the perceptions of the teachers of talent predicted final grades and
MEAP scores, (MEAP scores refer to scores on the math sections of the
California Achievement Test and the Michigan Educational Assessment
Program) (Jussim, l989). Even when their prior achievement tests and
their motivation were similar that is, in terms of self-concept, effort
time on homework and the value placed on math, it was the
high-expectancy student (specific expectancies could have higher
predictive validity) who received the higher grades and their
standardized test scores than did the low-expectancy students (Jussim,
l989). Efforts were made to look more closely at the effects of
teachers’ expectations with regard to student motivation, as well as
their achievements, and it was found that the only evidence of
self-fulfilling effects of teacher expectations on student motivation
was an effect of teacher perceptions of student performance on
students’ self-concept of ability (Jussim, l989). The results
showed that if students perceived themselves as performing highly,
early in the year, then they increased their self-concepts of math
ability by the end of the year (Jussim, l989). Here we might observe
that the propensity or the pattern for a self-fulfilling prophecy to
occur could be indicative of the students’ already established,
perceived notion as to what was to be in store for himself. In
other words, if he/she had thought positively for outcome, then in fact
a positive outcome would transpire accordingly.
These results provided support for the self-fulfilling effects of
teacher expectations on student motivation, but they provided very
little evidence that student motivation mediated self-fulfilling
prophecies (Jussim, l989). There were no significant effects
found on the performance regarding the student’s motivational
variables, except for the effects of student self-concept of ability on
grades. Again, we can see a relationship for the student to perceive
him/or herself to hold a positive perception, which then in turn leads
to a positive result, from which to build, or the choice to view him/or
herself negatively, which in turn would transpire into a more negative
point of self concept.
In her study, Jussim, (l989) also hypothesized that teachers’
expectations would influence their judgments of the students’
performance. These biases could affect the grades that the teachers may
assign without influencing the scores on objective standardized
tests. In conclusion, these results did not provide evidence that
the teachers’ perceptions of the students’ performance biased students’
grades. It is only fair to explain that perhaps teachers’
perceptions of students’ efforts biased their evaluation because of
other reasons such as a way to reward hard-working students or perhaps
a way to punish lazy students (Jussim, l989). When we hypothesize
the reasons for a self-fulfilling prophecy to occur in a given
situation and environment like the classroom, it is important to
consider that other variables might be contributing to the full
picture, but biases are a very important aspect of human behavior when
one easily begins to draw conclusions based on opinion alone.
“Pygmalion in the Classroom”
One of the most powerful and famous studies in which to
demonstrate self-fulfilling prophecy is the one conducted by Robert
Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson. In their book entitled, “Pygmalion In
The Classroom”, a portrayal of a common waif that is turned into a
remarkable fair lady), they depict this character as having the ability
to be transformed by her teacher into this respected lady.
Rosenthal and Jacobson (l968) decided to conduct this experiment in a
public school in a lower-class community where there were a minority
group of Mexican children, who also comprised about one-sixth of the
population (Rosenthal & Jacobson, l968). Every year about 200
new children are enrolled into the school, and about 200 of its 650
children leave the school. An ability-tracking plan was implemented at
Oak School whereby each of the six grades was divided into fast, medium
and slow classroom levels. Rosenthal and Jacobson, (l968) wanted
to find out whether teacher’s favorable or unfavorable expectations
could possibly result in an increase or a decrease in the pupils’
intellectual competence. First, the children from the Oak School
were pre-tested with the standard nonverbal test of intelligence, and
the teachers were told that this test would indicate intellectual
“blooming” in the student.
The Oak School children were retested with the same IQ test after
the first semester, after an academic year, and then again after two
full academic years. After the first year of the experiment it was
found that the first and second graders had a significant expectancy
advantage, meaning that some children displayed a higher IQ before
testing took place. It was obvious that having been expected to
bloom was an advantage, with these younger students in total IQ, verbal
IQ and reasoning IQ. . No dramatic differences were found between
boys and girls with regard to favorable expectancy. The results showed
that favorable teacher expectations seemed to help each sex more in
that particular sphere of intellectual functioning, where they had done
well on the pretest.had showed the greatest expectancy advantage, but
that the children of the other tracks dragged close behind.
It was surprising to see that it would be the more average child of a
lower class school who stands to benefit more from the teacher’s
expectancy. After both the first and the second year had passed, the
results indicated that the Mexican children showed greater expectancy
advantages than did the non-Mexican children. Magnitudes of
expectancy advantage were correlated with the “Mexican-ness” of the
children’s faces, and after one year, boys who looked more Mexican
benefited from their teachers’ prophecies.
In general then, the children who had been expected by their teachers
to behave in a certain way ended up doing so for the most part.
All the teachers were asked to rate their pupils on intellectual
curiosity, personal and social adjustment and the need for social
approval. Children who had been expected to gain intellectually,
were rated as more intellectually curious, as happier and especially in
the lower grades as less in need of social approval. It was the
younger children who showed the greater expectancy advantage with
regard to their teachers’ expectation. Children of the medium
track were most advantaged because they were expected to bloom, but
this time because of perceived greater intellectual curiosity and not
the need for social approval. Rosenthal and Jacobson,
(l968), draw many conclusions in their study, but one that is of most
concern to our readers with regard to self-fulfilling prophecy is that
teachers simply treated their children in a more receptive pleasant
manner when they expected greater intellectual gains, in which case we
can logically conclude a positive response, in other words, an improved
intellectual performance. Disadvantaged students should never be
biased against for their shortcomings, yet on the other hand advantaged
students should also be treated appropriately for the special talents
they possess. It is evident that the teacher experiences
difficulty in trying to be objective when as a teacher conducting
herself in the classroom may believe in her own interpretations.
“The self-fulfilling prophecy is in the beginning, a false definition
of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally
false conception come true”; “the specious validity of the
self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error” (Merton, l948,
p.l95).
Study Links to Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
In a study conducted by Bushman, (l999) it was hypothesized that media
endorsement for catharsis produces a self-fulfilling or a
self-defeating prophecy. The study was conducted by asking participants
to read a procatharsis message, claiming that aggressive action is a
good way to relax and reduce anger (which produced a greater desire to
punch a bag than the participants who read an anticatharsis message
(Bushman, l999). Then participants were asked to read the same
messages and then actually did hit a punching bag. It was found
that the people who read the procatharsis message and then hit the
punching bag were more aggressive than were the people who had read the
anticatharsis message. The results showed that people do believe that
venting one’s anger helped reduce that anger and so did so, but then
when they were led to believe catharsis worked and they chose to seek
it as a release, it did not work. These results showed that even a
little boost of potentially self-fulfilling prophecy did not make
enough of a difference to create catharsis effect (Bushman, l999).
In another study conducted by Zebrowitz, (l998), it was hypothesized
that babyfaced adolescent boys would compensate for their undesirable
expectation that they would exhibit some of their child like traits by
behaving in the opposite way. This study showed that babyfaceness could
produce negative behaviors, and these boys were more likely than
maturefaced boys to be delinquent, and as a result babyfaced
delinquents had a greater propensity to commit more crimes. Here
evidence indicates that stereotypes that depict a particular appearance
do not yield a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In another study authors used the “bogus-item” methodology originally
utilized by (Wickless & Kirsch, l989, as cited by Benham, l998), to
look at the degree to which a person may respond to hypnosis is
remarkably stable over time. It was questioned whether this stability
reflects cognitive ability, or a certain personality trait of “hypnotic
susceptibility”. The results of the first experiment failed to
demonstrate a significant effect on hypnotic responsiveness for the
bogus item manipulation, and there were no significant effects on
hypnotic responsiveness that may have been attributed to the timing of
debriefing. Results suggested that hypnotic responsiveness might
not be a reaction in people with regard to expectancy manipulations,
that perhaps hypnotic responsiveness could be a susceptible trait in
people’s personality (Benham, l998). Another interesting study
conducted by Kirsch, (l999) on the subject is indicated whereby authors
provided an overview of various literatures on people who might respond
automatically in the form of a self-fulfilling prophecy and how there
may be a link psychologically to automatic processes . This study
reveals that perhaps behavior may be initiated automatically, but that
the authors conclude that clinical practice may be enhanced because of
these automatic processes that influence experience. Nothing
conclusive was found and that additional research was needed to
validate the use of automatic processes in the area of psychotherapy
(Kirsch, l999).
Expectancy Effects and Stigma
Studies have shown that a childhood stigma can act as a self-fulfilling
prophecy and may have long lasting adverse effects. A study
conducted by Harris (l992), indicates this problem where the author
describes a story told to her about a student in one of her psychology
classes where he was diagnosed as learning disabled (Harris,
l992). This study reviewed the knowledge about the consequences
of stigma and also looked at the expectancies and results of children’s
behavior with or without behavior problems (Harris, l992).
Considerable studies and research has shown that expectancy effects do
happen (Rosenthal & Rubin, as cited by Harris, l992), although less
is known about their processes or expectancy effects in the real world
(Jussim, l99l). Also, research in this area has generally been
done on teacher expectancies, and has obviously shown a bias for
positive notation (Harris, l992). In this instance “positive notation”
refers to the fact that we want to see teachers in a positive light.
But from a social perspective (Jussim, l990), it is more important and
critical to review the negative expectancies, and this might shed more
light on the subject of why self-fulfilling prophecies may occur.
Expectancy Effects and Children
It seems that although research has been done in the classroom with
regard to teachers, there hasn’t been enough research on expectancy
effects and children. Children have often been used as targets,
but very few studies have looked at peer interactions where children
are the perceivers (Harris, Milich, Johnston, and Hoover, l990, as
cited by Harris, l992). It seems that children’s interactions
with regard to stigma is very important in this area of study.
Children do not always abide by these standards, and their
interpretations of the stigmas have a wide range of acknowledgments,
such as staring, peer rejection, taunts, and teasing (Harris,
l992). These situations make it hard for children to learn and
concentrate in the classroom. In a study conducted by Harris, (l990)
children with ADHD, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, were
examined and tested to see if the ADHD label could in fact operate as a
powerful expectancy (Harris, l992). In this study, forty
normal boys between the ages of eight and eleven were videotaped while
they were playing with another normal boy of their own age. The
researchers told the perceiver (for half the dyads) that the
partner was in a special class because he had a behavior problem, and
it was explained to them the characteristics of this behavior problem
(Harris, l992). After analysis had been conducted, it showed that
the targets that had been labeled with the stigma of hyperactivity
thought that the task was harder and made less ability attributions for
the performance (Harris, l992). On the whole, the perceivers were
judged to be much less friendly, spoke less often, and in general, were
less involved in interactions (Harris, l992). This study shows us
that there are significant perception differences when stigmatized
children are involved. This study indicates that a
self-fulfilling prophecy is possible when a normal child’s expectations
about stigmatized peers can cause negative interactions, that so often
parallels a stigma (Harris, l992). This study provided us with some
keen insights regarding significant effects that stigmatization has on
children (Harris, l992), as well as the insight into the processes
underlying interpersonal expectancy effects and more importantly, the
children’s reactions to others with a stigma (Harris, l992).
Children and the Stigma of ADD/ADHD
Dr. Breggin, a well-known psychiatrist, has written a book about the
concerns that parents have about their children after being diagnosed
with ADD/ADHD.
He briefly describes a story about a son whose father had served in the
military, and had decided to also pursue a career in the Army just like
his dad. The story becomes complicated because this boy named
Ian, had already had difficulty in school, but was later prescribed
Ritalin to help him with the typical problems that come with having
ADD/ADHD. Drug therapy really helped Ian along nicely, but some
of the side effects that are characteristic of Ritalin such as
nervousness, trouble sleeping and weight loss troubled him, yet he
continued to take it. Later when he went to the Army he decided
to stop taking Ritalin, because he didn’t like what it was doing to
him. Ian scored very well on the examination entrance exam, but
lied about the fact that he had been on Ritalin the year before.
The Army found out about it and so consequently told him that they
could not induct someone like him who had taken Ritalin after the age
of twelve. Ian’s father pulled some strings for him and Ian was
able to get in anyway, but was labeled, “lackadaisical”, rather than
ADHD (Breggin, 2001). Ian never really went anywhere in the Army
because they put a ceiling on his level of responsibilities, no matter
which job they gave him. Even though Ian was great in computers,
they never gave him any higher assignment.
.
Ian and his father did not seem to have much self-esteem left after
their experience with the army and it is no wonder why they would
have. Ian had to struggle with choices that he was left with when
in reality he should have had every opportunity to be the best he could
be. When he chose to take himself off of the Ritalin he obviously
lost his focus and his self-control, which is usually the case with
ADD/ADHD. This lack of self-control can perpetuate into a
self-fulfilling prophecy diagnosis limits our expectations and
encourages children to give up self-control” (Valentine, as cited by
Breggin, 2001, p. l2l). Therefore, this low self-esteem child
might not be so easily influenced by their parents’ good values, and
instead will be influenced by their peer groups (Madon, 2003).
This might suggest that the expectations of the parents may produce a
stronger self-fulfilling prophecy among the children that show a high
self-esteem (Madon, 2003).
Self-Concept Influences
Self-concept may in fact influence how we perceive ourselves to be and
in some instances can set limitations where our choices are
concerned. If we are not careful, we can easily slip into a ready
made self-fulfilling prophecy. When we make a negative
self-assigned status, such as I think that I am “unlovable”,
“inadequate”, “irrational”, “incompetent”, “worthless” or just
“inferior”, we can see that we have already resigned ourselves
ineligible to participate in life (Bergner, 2000, p. 2). If we find
ourselves unlovable, like poor Charlie Brown did, then there seems to
be no hope at all in participating in this life, because we think no
body can love us. If we think that we are inadequate, then we
feel we will never measure up. If we think that we are
incompetent we never gain the confidence to do anything
worthwhile. Tragically, this can become the case. “Along with
restricting the behavioral possibilities of people, the self-concept
has important implications that will show how a person will deem
appropriate to act” (Bergner, 2000, p. 3).
There are many facets to the self-concept, and there are
well-documented facts about self-concept that say that it possesses a
peculiar resistance to change in the face of disconfirming facts
(Baumeister, l995, as cited by Bergner, 2000). It seems that a
man will continue to believe himself inferior even though that people
know it to be the contrary, yet he still believes what he wants to
believe. A woman believes that she is selfish, and despite the
fact that her close friends tell her otherwise, she still contends that
she is selfish. World-famous musicians and actors, even though
they have great reviews about their performances will still continue to
think that they will fail and make a fool of themselves and flop on
stage (Bergner, 2000). “Self-concept does not function as
an informational entity, but as a positional one, and by noting the way
that positional conceptions function vis-à-vis factual input”
(Bergner, 2000, p. 4). cited by Bergner, 2000, p.4).
For the most part, it seems that children do tend to accept the
role status that they have been assigned by others (Marshall, l993, as
cited by Bergner, 2000). How the children acted and saw
themselves and how they incorporated their new attributes all
contributed to this status because of the labeling placed upon them by
their parents, or caregivers. Some of these consequences can be
devastating as well as permanent, but on a lighter note, your own
personal attributes has a lot to do with the final outcome.
An interesting study conducted by Madon, (2003), examined mothers
and the expectations they may have about their children’s drinking
habits, and her influence over the children’s future alcohol
consumption use through a self-fulfilling prophecy. Three areas
were investigated with regard to children: the children’s self-esteem,
the social class of the family, and the valence of mother’s
expectations (Madon, 2003). The research addressed three issues: it
examined whether mother expectations predicted their children’s future
alcohol use due to self-fulfilling prophecies, it examined the
assessment to the extent to which mother expectations were accurate
(note that accuracy pertains to conformity of the fact, providing
correct reading or measurement), and lastly, examined whether
self-fulfilling prophecies were stronger for some children under
specific conditions. All in all, the mothers truly have a
small but significant self-fulfilling effect on their children with
regard to alcohol use (Madon, 2003), but research also tells us that
these effects were much stronger among the higher self-esteem
children. This study also looked at under which condition that
self-fulfilling prophecies might be more powerful. For example
interpersonal effects may have more important effects on social
influence (Madon, 2003). Findings have shown that low self-esteem
individuals are more susceptible to social influence than are the
higher self-esteem people, and that the children that had lower
self-esteem might be less susceptible than the children that had the
higher self-esteem to fulfilling the expectations of the parents for
example (Madon, 2003). When children are faced with many
conflicting sources of influences in a social setting, then the
differences may be the greatest between low and high self-esteem
children (Madon, 2003). It has been noted that children will
respond more often when mother influences her expectations (Madon,
2003). This is a valuable finding because either way we can see
that mother has an impact on children’s self-fulfilling prophecy, which
can be beneficial with regard to a decrease in children’s desire to
drink alcohol. These findings indicate that mother’s input in low
self-esteem children can have great helpful effects with great positive
outcomes. For example, the high drinking and driving statistics
that kill many of our children today in automobile accidents could
potentially be lowered significantly through mothers’ positive
influences, and perhaps her own self-fulfilling prophecy to implement
higher safety standards.
Social Perception and Social Reality
We have learned that the “susceptibility differences between low and
high self-esteem children may be greatest when children are faced with
multiple and conflicting sources of social influence” (Madon, 2003, p.
16). This brings us to a new level of understanding because the
“Reflection-Construction Model”, that Jussim, (l99l), presents in her
research allows us to review the facts concerning the belief that
social perception is a major force in the creation (construction) of
social reality (Jussim, l99l).
In this theoretical model it explicitly shows several ways whereby
social perception may in fact be related to a social reality (Jussim,
l99l). How could it be that our own social realities are
malleable enough that we can transform them into our own erroneous
social beliefs (Jussim, l99l)? In this study, Jussim, (l99l)
points out a “strong” version and a “weak” version with respect to the
social construction perspective. “The strong version assumes that
social perception creates social reality as much or more than it
reflects social reality” (Fiske as cited by Jussim, l99l, p.2). This
strong version is called the strong version because it is consistent
with the constructivist perspective, which is that many theorists
emphasize this phenomenon and promote it, and also that empirical
research emphasizes error and bias in social perception. The “weak
version of social constructivist perspective acknowledges that people’s
errors, prejudices, and misbegotten beliefs sometimes create social
reality” (Jussim, l99l, p.2). The weak version is considered weak
because it suggests that sometimes people’s perceptions really do
reflect their own social reality even when they are erroneous and when
these perceptions do not have an influence on social reality (Brophy,
l983, as cited by Jussim, l99l). In her study, Jussim, (l99l)
reveals strong conclusions regarding the relationship between social
perception and social reality.
Some of these through the aid of the reflection-construction
model are listed from her study; “self-fulfilling, self-sustaining, and
self-defeating prophecies, disconfirmation, accuracy of prediction and
in judgments of targets’ behavior and biasing effects on judgments of
targets’ behavior” (Jussim, l99l, p. 17). This model gives the
reader great insight because it simply shows us that there are
possibilities among any of these relations between social perception
and social reality that can occur in any social environmental
context. This model also included several types of accuracy;
“accuracy in background information for example, or predictive accuracy
and accuracy resulting from social constructive processes as well as
accuracy resulting from judging targets on the basis of their behavior
or attributes” (Jussim, l99l, p. l7). As we have already indicated the
importance of teachers’ expectations, Jussim, (l99l) emphasizes in her
results that educational psychologists have stressed the importance of
accuracy pertaining to teachers’ expectations. “Whenever social
beliefs actually predict targets’ behavior (because of either
self-fulfilling prophecy or accuracy), the more those beliefs influence
judgments, the greater the correspondence between those judgments and
targets’ actual behavior” (Jussim, l99l, p. 17). Jussim (l99l)
found that if we judge targets on the basis of our own beliefs, then we
may yield our own judgments that may closely coincide to objective
social reality.
. Ultimately, what revealing information did Jusssim, (l99l) provide us
in the results of her study? Empirical research showed us that
the extent is quite limited in naturally occurring teachers’
expectations to create self-fulfilling prophecies, that small effects
were found in meta-analyses where self-fulfilling prophecy effects were
expected to be more powerful, stereotypes had been found to be both
accurate as well as inaccurate, perceivers often judge targets on the
basis of the targets’ behavior and attributes, and expectations
influence judgments with regard to individuals (Jussim, l99l). Several
meta-anlyses assessing the strength of self-fulfilling prophecy effects
were conducted. Investigations in naturally occurring teacher
expectations by Rosenthal, l984, as cited by Jussim, l99l) indicated
expectancy effects on target behavior of l and 3 among both
experimental and naturalistic studies (Raudenbush, l984, Rosenthal
& Rubin, l978, Smith, l980, as cited by Jussim, l99l). It was
found that effect sizes may overestimate the power of expectancy effect
in daily life, and that grade level of student and timing of the
expectancy induction might influence the size of teacher expectation
effects. Strongest self-fulfilling prophecy effects occurred with the
student in the first second and seventh grades. Another
meta-analyses found how individual differences among perceivers and
targets moderated self-fulfilling prophecy effect sizes (Raudenbush,
l984, as cited by Jussim, l99l). Jussim, (l99l),
concluded “self-fulfilling and biasing effects of social beliefs were
small, especially when compared to accuracy (Jussim, l99l, p. l9), and
that the reflection-construction model provides empirical evidence that
shows the weak social perspective is more viable than the strong
perspective. Clearly, many factors ride on the variables
necessary in defining the true cause of how a self-fulfilling prophecy
may precipitate, and by now we can appreciate the complexities involved
in trying to decipher the pieces to the puzzle. However, another
area of interest that could reveal the phenomenon of self-fulfilling
prophecy is the strategy for self-verification and how one may cope
with negative life events.
Self-Verification and Coping
In a study conducted by Lillqvist (l998), she investigated how
the role of astrology could play as a self-concept verification and the
how one may use this as a coping mechanism in dealing with negative
life-events. Forty students in an elementary course of astrology,
psychology, and German language were required to rate their certainty
about twenty self-describing attributes, and then were required to make
three assumptions that were related to themselves (Lillqvist,
l998). They were also asked to make comments on crises or
traumatic events that may have occurred in their lives. The
participation in the astrology course verified the participant’s
self-concept (one may use astrology as a method to verify self-concept)
but not in the psychology or German courses (Lillqvist, l998).
Interest in astrology correlated positively with the personal crises
that they had experienced, but not with traumatic events of the past
(Lillqvist, l998). These results tell us that astrology
plays a minor role in dealing with traumatic events and may play a more
important role when coping with some stressful situations. In an
effort to explain further the role that a self-fulfilling prophecy
could take on in these situations can be easily shown here that perhaps
the desire to find comfort under stressful situations one could choose
astrology to fill in the gaps. If one feels as though they are
powerless and resorts to astrology by reading their horoscope in the
newspaper for example, if this reading tells a positive story for them
in their future, believing the words can fulfill the prophecy for them.
It has been noted that especially during turbulent political and
economic times, people seem to more readily engage themselves in
astrology (Lillqvist, l998). Astrological information seems to
fill the need for self-comprehension, as well as ease the pain of
stressful situations (Lillquvist, l998). Lillquvist, (l998),
notes in her study that care should be taken in drawing conclusions
from the data in her study due to inadequately filled-out
questionnaires, and that the number of participants in her study was
small, as well as samples that may have been biased. Also, her
participants were mainly women and that previous studies show that
women have a greater belief in paranormal phenomenon than men, along
with the fact that women tend to be more superstitious (Lillqvist,
l998). We must be cautious when drawing conclusions about data
collected in a study with regard to gender, because if only women were
used as participants we cannot say that men had a propensity to utilize
astrology as a way to fulfill their expectations about their own
self-concept as easily as women can. Although we can speculate
that astrology could play a small part in fulfilling prophecies more in
women, we cannot conclusively say that this has the same effect on men,
yet we can say that astrology is popular during stressful non-normative
events whereby individuals can utilize it to calm themselves through
this perceived magical thinking. Is it really magical thinking, and are
we fooled to believe something that really doesn’t exist in the first
place?
A Philosophical Approach to “Filling In”
Another perspective that might help us to understand the concept
of “filling in”, as we have recently discussed with respect to
stressful situations and astrology and how it obviously contributes to
the notion of the existence of a self-fulfilling prophecy, is the
philosophical approach that Daniel Dennett unfolds in his book
entitled, “Consciousness Explained”. He explains many
theories that lead up to ideas about the conscious mind and elaborates
how fields of neuroscience, psychology and artificial intelligence can
help us better understand our perceptions of what is real and what is
not. Let us consider the Cartesian Theater, where “it all comes
together” (Dennett, l99l, p. l07). For Descarte, it was the
pineal gland, for others it is suggested to be the anterior cingulate,
the reticular formation, or various places in the frontal lobes
(Dennet, l99l). The Cartesian Theater is a metaphorical place or
picture of how the conscious experience sits in the brain. It is
called a theater because one is the actor and the other the audience,
or the observer. If the point of view of the observer is spread
out over the entire observer’s brain, the observers’ sense of sequence
and simultaneity must be placed upon something other than the “order of
arrival” because “order of arrival” is not completely defined until the
destination is specified (Dennett, l99l). Dennett knows that the
idea of a special center, where it all happens in the brain cannot be
taken too seriously, but it does attempt to reassert itself for some
obvious reasons. For example, there is our personal introspection
appreciation of the unity of consciousness, which implies the
distinction between “in here” and “out there” (Dennett, l99l). Does
this sound familiar? Can this resemble what can happen to us while
fulfilling a prophecy? What we may conclude from our own
interpretations mentally may not be what really is happening in the
environment. There really is no Cartesian Theater. The
brain is too complex because there are too many inputs and outputs for
it to be just one place for mental concentration, or filtration for
that matter. There is no “filling in”, no two people talking to each
other in the theater (the theater in our the brains, that is).
Dennett also considers an explanation through the presentation of the
“phi” phenomenon, (Wertheimer, l912, as cited by Dennett, l99l), after
the motion pictures rapid succession of still pictures, the experiment
was duplicated using two illuminated spots of different color, what
would happen to the color of the spot as it moved? Would the
illusionary moving spot gradually change from one color to
another? (Kolers & von Grunau, l976, as cited by Dennett,
l99l), conducted the experiment in which two different colored spots
were lit for l50msec each, with a 50msec interval. The first spot
seemed to be moving and then change abruptly in the middle, and then
toward the second location. How are we able to fill in the spot
at the intervening locations from the first to the second flash
(Goodman, l978, as cited by Dennett, l99l)? Suppose the first
spot is red and the second displaced spot is green. There has to be
some precognition in the brain (the illusionary content), the red
turning to green in midcourse, cannot be created until the second one
is identified, and the green spot occurs in the brain (Dennett,
l99l). But here Dennett, (l99l), explains that if the second spot
is already “in conscious experience” isn’t it already too late to
interpose the illusionary content between conscious experience of the
red spot and the similar conscious experience of the green spot?
“The principle that causes must precede effects applies to the multiple
distributed processes that accomplish the editorial work of the brain”
(Dennett, l99l, p.ll5). What you consciously experience is first red
turning to green and then finally green, it would then logically follow
that your consciousness of the event would be delayed until after the
green spot was “unconsciously” perceived (Dennett, l99l). Isn’t
this similar to what happens when a teacher fails to perceive a Mexican
students’ achievement in a classroom, for example when after moments
have past she has already decided to place judgments on the abilities
or for that matter, lack of abilities onto the child?
Doesn’t it become more convenient for her to categorize neatly away the
problems she faces with regard to the student by distinguishing the
good from the bad? We cannot draw quick conclusions by a sample
experiment within the “phi” phenomenon, but we can derive from logic
how easily our minds can misinterpret what we think we see or what we
may not have seen in the first place. Self-fulfilling prophecies
can operate in the same way, leaving us uncomfortable in knowing that
we can’t be certain, that we must never assume anything until we have
researched it further. Empirical evidence provides us some ease
in determining what is real and what is not, yet those facts must be
evenly weighed when considering all the variables in an experiment, but
also in terms of real life situations.
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Conclusions
Much to our surprise, the subject of self-fulfilling prophecy has had a
long history. Although numerous studies have currently been
conducted to date on the subject, social scientist had very early on
taken an interest in the subject due to the apparent implications it
had in the workings of social processes. We take it for granted, but
the horrors that people of color (the enslaved Negro) had to endure in
society in earlier centuries made a huge impact in the study of
self-fulfilling prophecy, because social scientist recognized the
apparent need to address the issue. When people respond in a
certain way to a particular situation, that response implies a
particular meaning to that person, thus this consequence becomes the
new ascribed meaning, and later infects the new engrained meaning onto
others within a society. We can begin this introspection
interpersonally throughout our daily lives, for example if we convince
ourselves that we will do poorly on an exam, and that we are destined
to fail, we can become so devoted to worry that we can become our own
victims of circumstance. The failure thus becomes failure, not
only because we had envisioned it, but also because all other factors
associated with it reaffirms our core belief system. This core
belief system is evident as we apply it to the injustices that occur to
people of race or color, as well as prejudices against disorders, such
as ADD/ADHD, that have long aversive effects on children still
today. Stigmatization and prejudice can become so overwhelmingly
problematic that it interferes with the learning process in schools and
affects society as a whole. If certain individuals believe that the
less fortunate are a hindrance to our society this can perpetuate into
a self-fulfilling prophecy, and there is some evidence to substantiate
this.
The most popular and compelling evidence regarding
the subject of self-fulfilling prophecies came from studies that were
conducted in the classroom. Many prominent psychologists were
able to calibrate their studies together, while most have built up new
theories based upon evidence of prior assessments as so often happens
in research, and have redefined self-fulfilling prophecy to make it
more intelligible to the layperson. Various key concepts were
investigated in the development of a clearer definition of
self-fulfilling prophecy. What are some of these key concepts
that ultimately lay the foundation that can act as a facilitating
precursor in the evolution of self-fulfilling prophecy? Efforts
were made to look closely to the effects of teachers’ expectations with
regard to student motivation, as well as their achievements, and it was
found that the only evidence of self-fulfilling effects of teacher
expectations on student motivation was the effect of teacher
perceptions of student performance on students’ self-concept of
ability. Results showed if students perceived themselves as
performing highly early in the year, then they increased their
self-concepts of math ability by the end of the year. Results
also provided support for the self-fulfilling effects of teacher
expectations on student motivation, but they provided very little
evidence that student motivation mediated self-fulfilling
prophecies. There were no significant effects found on the
performance regarding the student’s motivational variables, except for
the effects of student self-concept of ability on grades. It was
hypothesized that teachers’ expectations would influence their
judgments of the students’ performance. These biases could affect
the grades that the teachers may assign without influencing the scores
on objective standardized tests. The results that were presented
were consistent with the occurrence of biased grading when the
teachers’ perceptions regarded effort, which prejudiced final marks,
but not with regard to (MEAP) scores. The difference was
significant, for example when the teachers believed the students were
lazy, compared to those they believed to try hard. The students that
tried harder received higher grades, but not higher with regard to
standardized test scores. These results did not provide evidence
that the teachers’ perceptions of the students’ performance biased
students’ grades. One of the most popular and most powerful
teacher-classroom experiments that were discussed for relevance for
self-fulfilling prophecy, was whether teachers’ favorable or
unfavorable expectations could possibly result in an increase or a
decrease in pupils’ intellectual competence. Inquiries were made with
regard to ability to “bloom”, and found an expectancy advantage.
No differences were found between boys and girls with regard to
favorable expectancy. Boys that were expected to bloom intellectually,
gained on the verbal IQ, and girls that were expected to bloom
intellectually, gained more in the reasoning IQ. In general, the
children who had been expected by their teachers to behave in a certain
way ended up doing so for the most part. The younger children
showed greater expectancy advantage, but surprisingly the Mexican
students did not share in the advantage of being expected to bloom.
After the first and second year had passed, results indicated that the
Mexican children showed greater expectancy advantages than did the
non-Mexican children. Consistent with self-fulfilling prophecy is
that teachers in this study treated their children in a more receptive
pleasant manner when they expected greater intellectual gains, in other
words an improved intellectual performance.
Studies were reviewed with regard to stigma and how this may have
disruptive effects on children, and also how that the children’s
expectations about a stigmatized classmate may affect their
interactions with them, specifically how an ADHD label could in fact,
operate as a powerful expectancy. This study showed significant
perception differences when stigmatized children were involved. A
particular expectancy takes place that correlates with the
stigmatization, and this study indicated that a self-fulfilling
prophecy is possible when a normal child’s expectations about
stigmatized peers can cause negative interactions that so often
parallels a stigma.
Self-concept influences were reviewed and studies showed that a low
self-concept has important implications that will indicate that a
person may behave and interact with people in ways that are
nonassertive and deferential. Poor concepts may lie in the
statuses that we were given by are parents or caregivers, which also
may have a spiral affect later on in life. Another study that was
reviewed examined mothers and their expectations regarding their
children’s drinking habits, and her influence over the children’s
future alcohol use. The reflection construction model defines
mothers’ expectations as being inaccurate and that they are not based
on valid variables regarding the children’s future alcohol use. It was
found that mothers truly have a small, but significant self-fulfilling
effect on their children with regard to alcohol use. When
children were faced with many conflicting sources of influences in a
social setting, the differences may be greatest between low and high
self-esteem children. It was noted that children would respond
more often when mother influences her expectations. This was a
valuable finding because we may see that mother could have had an
impact on children’s self-fulfilling prophecy.
In a review of social perception and social reality
through the reflection construction model, this study revealed the
facts concerning the belief that social perception is a major force in
the creation of social reality. An emphasis was placed upon
several types of accuracy; accuracy in background information,
predictive accuracy and accuracy resulting from social constructive
process, and accuracy from judging targets on the basis of their
behavior or attributes. Whenever social beliefs actually predict
targets’ behavior, because of either self-fulfilling prophecy or due to
accuracy, the more those beliefs influenced judgments, the greater the
correspondence between those judgments and targets’ actual
behavior. This study concluded that self-fulfilling and biasing
effects of social beliefs were small, especially when compared to
accuracy, and that the reflection construction model provides empirical
evidence that shows the weak social perspective is more viable than the
strong perspective.
Another interesting study reviewed how the role of astrology
could play as self-concept verification and how one may use this as a
coping mechanism in dealing with negative life-events. The
results of this study indicated that astrology plays a minor role in
dealing with traumatic events and may play a more important role when
coping with some stressful situations. Astrological information
seems to fill the need for self-comprehension, as well as ease the pain
of stressful situations. A confounding variable in this study was the
fact that participants in the study consisted only of women.
An approach to philosophy was utilized in an attempt to verify
the concept of “filling in”. The Cartesian Theater is a unique
idea seen through the eyes of the observer, with an audience inside our
brain, or is it? The combination of neuroscience, psychology and
artificial intelligence could help us to better understand that there
really isn’t just one place where everything comes together, that our
minds are much too complex to visualize just one center. The
“phi” phenomenon was introduced as a way to visualize precognition in
the brain, the illusionary content in midcourse. This analogy was
constructed as a way to exemplify what might happen “consciously” or
“unconsciously” with regard to perception and how our perceptions
become distorted and as a result may ultimately lead to our own
self-fulfilling prophecies.
Although in most of the studies that were
indicated, evidence for self-fulfilling prophecy showed only a slight
significance, with teacher-classroom studies providing the best and
clearest understanding in the subject. A better significance was
found in studies where stigmatized children were involved where a
self-fulfilling prophecy is possible when a normal child’s expectations
about stigmatized peers could cause negative interactions. Having
touched just the tip of the iceberg on this subject, areas such as
religion, ethnic background, hypnosis, and war could have provided a
more in depth look into the cause and effects concerning
self-fulfilling prophecies. Continued research in this area will
benefit many, especially our children, for they may become the new hope
in a population of investigative scientists.
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