Self fulfilling prophecies, everyone familiar with these?

grahamg

grahamg

Old codger
Location
South of Manchester, UK
I seem to remember these being talked about quite a lot once upon a time, (the "Give a dog a bad name and he'll live up to it" situation)

Quote:
"A self-fulfilling prophecy is a sociological term used to describe a prediction that causes itself to become true. Therefore, the process by which a person's expectations about someone can lead to that someone behaving in ways which confirm the expectations."

https://www.simplypsychology.org/se...ophecy is,ways which confirm the expectations.

Another similar article here:
https://www.thoughtco.com/self-fulfilling-prophecy-3026577

self fulfilling.1.gif
 

No. I believe stuff happens. Example. Eight years ago on my birthday, I was supposed to go to a birthday party my friends were having for ME. I was in a great mood. It was a beautiful day. Got into the car. It didn't start. šŸ™ Called AAA. The guy came and couldn't fix the problem there so gave me a tow to my repair shop.

I called the hostess of my party to tell her what happened. The repairs took quite a while and I got hungry so went to a pizzeria across the street for a slice while I waited. Hours later I showed up at my party, exhausted. Everybody had eaten and I had nothing.

They day was a crashing disappointment. It wasn't negative thinking. I'd like to believe in the LOA ( law of attraction ) but I just can't because sometimes no matter how upbeat your thinking is, bad things happen. They just do.
 

There's something similar, I forget what it's called, but it's when somebody backstabs you, like saying you're stupid or lazy, then people will look for evidence to support that when they interact with you. It's kind of like cognitive bias, but there's another term. They're predisposed to believing something about you.

It works the other way, too. If somebody goes around saying how smart you are, or what a good worker you are, then even when presented evidence to the contrary, people will be reluctant to believe it.

I've seen both scenarios in the workplace, and it becomes self-fulfilling, although not a prophecy. That's why it's best to treat people how you want them to be and give people the benefit of the doubt.
 
jujube said:
People who constantly say, "That's not going to work....I can't do that....why even try, it's not going to work.....nothing ever works for me" are engaging in a self-fulfilling prophesy. They "can't", they "don't" and it never works because they never try.
Click to expand...
That's one side of it undoubtedly, but "transactional analysis", with its emphasis on "positive strokes", "scripty messages", and the like, all come into it too!
 
Irwin said:
There's something similar, I forget what it's called, but it's when somebody backstabs you, like saying you're stupid or lazy, then people will look for evidence to support that when they interact with you. It's kind of like cognitive bias, but there's another term. They're predisposed to believing something about you.

It works the other way, too. If somebody goes around saying how smart you are, or what a good worker you are, then even when presented evidence to the contrary, people will be reluctant to believe it.

I've seen both scenarios in the workplace, and it becomes self-fulfilling, although not a prophecy. That's why it's best to treat people how you want them to be and give people the benefit of the doubt.
Click to expand...
You've summed it up very well. :)
 
I think there are several studies which show that positive attitudes lead to overall more positive lives. There will always be disappointments like the one @chic described even if one has a positive attitude, but overall they have more positive lives or at least perceive them to be more positive.
 
asp3 said:
I think there are several studies which show that positive attitudes lead to overall more positive lives. There will always be disappointments like the one @chic described even if one has a positive attitude, but overall they have more positive lives or at least perceive them to be more positive.
Click to expand...
What you say is true. It's healthier for a person's immune system when they are positive. A negative attitude over a prolonged period can lead to illness.
 
I was just reminded that sometimes the self fulfilling prophesies have nothing to do with one's own observations.

I forget where I read it but when girls take math tests in an all girl setting they tend to score higher overall as a group then when they do in a setting where they're mixed in with boys.

So in this instance the belief is that society sees women as less competent at math than boys and somehow knowing about that belief girls perform worse than if they're in a single sex setting.

So sometimes it's societies self fulfilling prophesies which affect the outcome of individuals in certain situations.
 
Jules said:
If you stub your toe first thing in the morning, you say that itā€™s going to be a bad day. You are creating your own negative thoughts.
Click to expand...
The memory of stubbing my toe went right through me, but at the same time there are days aren't there, where maybe, just maybe, we'd have been better staying in bed too! :eek:(n).
 
Parents can be the worst purveyors of self-fulling prophecies. If you tell your child often enough they are this or that, or they won't be able to accomplish a certain thing, that "prophecy" will come through.
 
Dana said:
Parents can be the worst purveyors of self-fulling prophecies. If you tell your child often enough they are this or that, or they won't be able to accomplish a certain thing, that "prophecy" will come through.
Click to expand...
If you've read any of the thread on "Our parents sayings" you'll discover my parents said a great deal on so many subjects, however I'm unsure as to whether they instilled in me any self fulfilling prophesies(?).
I've no doubt at all I've been greatly influenced by both, each in a different way, famously pulling in opposite directions sometimes, my mother believing and saying, "Education was the answer", (as to what children need), whilst my father thought an education in the ways of the world more important, and he said he was only interested in learning maths and English at school, (though he deferred to my mother or lost the argument on this aspect of my upbringing).
My parents both recognised my brother as a very different character to myself, (him bring very cocky, like our father was or had been, whilst I took after my mother I think).
Its stood my brother in good stead, as he's a happy family man, with five children and a thriving farming business in France, though he and his wife have worked very hard for it. My brother had his own unusual Christian name given as a second Christian name to each of his four sons, so there's no doubt he's tried to imprint himself upon them, though all are doing very well in any event!
 
asp3 said:
I was just reminded that sometimes the self fulfilling prophesies have nothing to do with one's own observations.

I forget where I read it but when girls take math tests in an all girl setting they tend to score higher overall as a group then when they do in a setting where they're mixed in with boys.

So in this instance the belief is that society sees women as less competent at math than boys and somehow knowing about that belief girls perform worse than if they're in a single sex setting.

So sometimes it's societies self fulfilling prophesies which affect the outcome of individuals in certain situations.
Click to expand...
Well, I guess that explains why I always got good marks in school. In grade school, I always was in an all-girl class and I went to an all Girls High School.;)
 
Sassycakes said:
Well, I guess that explains why I always got good marks in school. In grade school, I always was in an all-girl class and I went to an all Girls High School.;)
Click to expand...
I have a contradictory piece of evidence to share, concerning my ex-wife, and her experience during school days and thereafter, where 17 girls out of 20 in the class produced maths homework the teacher deemed not worth marking, so poor was it, (my ex. of course was one the the three who was very good at math, taking it as one of her secondary subjects at college, where she did teacher training for three years and obtaining her degree).
Funnily enough, when these same school girls were asked what their career aspirations were, in the late 1970s, seventeen out of twenty responded by saying they "wanted to get married and have a family"!
Those were the days hey,.... :)
 
asp3 said:
I was just reminded that sometimes the self fulfilling prophesies have nothing to do with one's own observations.
I forget where I read it but when girls take math tests in an all girl setting they tend to score higher overall as a group then when they do in a setting where they're mixed in with boys.
So in this instance the belief is that society sees women as less competent at math than boys and somehow knowing about that belief girls perform worse than if they're in a single sex setting.
So sometimes it's societies self fulfilling prophesies which affect the outcome of individuals in certain situations.
Click to expand...
It should be borne in mind shouldn't it, that boys perform less well overall in mixed schools, so you could easily argue their interests are being sacrificed too, on "the altar of equality" perhaps(?).

Here is a "curved ball" I'll chuck in that may not fit in with the thread topic at all, but I feel I had such ingrained behaviour concerning my father, a deference towards him, so I was in effect always looking over my shoulder, if you know what I mean, so I couldn't either fully be myself, or perform at my best level in whatever endeavour, and of course it got in the way of developing a relationship with my dad that was anything like equal, or adult, always father/son etc.

Not sure how such behaviour on my part had anything to do with self fulfilling prophesies, but there you go! :)
 
When my daughter was young I would tell her that she was "the peacemaker of the family"(she really was). When she was older I again mentioned that she was the peacemaker of the family. She's the glue that holds us all together and a good example of living positively.

She said to me that she remembered me telling her that as a child and so always told herself she was a peacemaker. Wow...if I had just told all 4 of my kids that, and turned out to be a self-fulfilled prophecies for all, life would have been a breeze.

But I do believe it was in my one daughter's soul to be a peacemaker. It's a gift. They each have their own gifts.
 
Last edited:
Lara said:
When my daughter was young I would tell her that she was "the peacemaker of the family"(she really was). When she was older I again mentioned that she was the peacemaker of the family. She's the glue that holds us all together and a good example of living positively.
She said to me that she remembered me telling her that as a child and so always told herself she was a peacemaker. Wow...if I had just told all 4 of my kids that, and turned out to be a self-fulfilled prophecies for all, life would have been a breeze.
But I do believe it was in my one daughter's soul to be a peacemaker. It's a gift. They each have their own gifts.
Click to expand...
Totally agree with every word you've said, and your arguments are beautifully written or laid out too! :)
 

Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top