a term proposed by Robert Merton to a basic process that occurs often in society. When a false belief and definition of a situation is upheld, new behaviors by participants make the original false conception become true in practice and perpetuate a reign of error. Further developed by W. I. Thomas who stated the classic aphorism, "When people define situations as real, they become real in their consequences."
the case whereby people (a) have an expectation about what another person is like, which (b) influences how they act toward that person, which (c) causes that person to behave in a way consistent with people's original expectations
the tendency for one person's expectations to influence another person to behave in accordance with them. (599)
The situation in which a false belief or prediction produces behavior that makes the originally false belief come true.
A prediction that helps itself to come true: for example, the belief that the price of a company's shares will drop is often self-fulfilling. The opposite, maybe more common, is the self-defeating prophecy: for example, perhaps Herman Kahn's books outlining scenarios for nuclear war (though not exactly prophecies) helped convince US and Soviet government officials that nobody would gain from such a war, thus helping to prevent it.
The process by which one's expectations about a person eventually lead that person to behave in ways that confirm those expectations
Expectation or prediction of behavior that tends to come true because it leads people to act as if it were already true. (286)
People come to behave in ways that confirm their own or other's expectations. go to glossary index
A predetermined idea or expectation one has toward oneself that is acted out, thus "proving" itself.
a definition of a situation which affects behaviours in such a way that this definition becomes exact
a prediction whose existence influences events in such a way as to cause the predicted event to occur
a situation in which you rise or sink to the occasion based on your mental attitude
The process by which someone's expectations about a person or group leads to the fulfillment of those expectations.
a belief that a manager can, through his or her behavior, create a situation where subordinates act in ways that confirm his or her original expectations.
A term used to refer to the fact that frequently things turn out just as one expected (or prophesied) that they would -- not necessarily because of one's prescience but because one behaved in a manner that optimized these very outcomes.
When predictions about election results influence the election results.
A situation in which a false belief or prediction produces behaviour that makes the originally false belief come true..
A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that, in being made, actually causes itself to become true. Although examples of self-fulfilling prophecies can be found in human literature as far back as ancient Greece and ancient India, it is 20th century sociologist Robert K. Merton who is credited with coining the expression "self-fulfilling prophecy" and formalising its structure and consequences.