In 1948, American sociologist Robert Merton developed the concept of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.
The theory says that a prediction or expectation can become true if a person’s belief in it influences their behaviour, which can lead to the fulfillment of the prophecy.
In the article, Merton defines it as:
“[The Self-fulfilling prophecy] is a belief or expectation, correct or incorrect, could bring about a desired or expected outcome.”
For example, if you’re a teacher and you constantly call a student a bad student, the chances of him becoming a bad student for the long run will increase because he’ll start to believe it.
Additionally, this can extend to groups of people as well.
Let’s imagine you’re a teacher again.
You have a group of First Nations students in your class and you treat them differently than the other students.
Every time they do something incorrectly, you get upset at them and call them lazy students instead of teaching them the right way to do something, like you do with the other students.
As the school year goes on, their motivation will start to decline because they start believing that they’re lazy students; the prophecy starts to influence their behaviour.
How The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Can Make You A Better Person
This theory can help you become a better person because you’ll be more careful and thoughtful with how you speak to people as you know there’s a chance your words can affect them in a negative way.
Imagine this for example: You’re a youth basketball coach and you have a player who is constantly not doing what you ask them to do.
You want to lash out at them and use negative reinforcement. You want to call them a bad listener and an uncoachable player.
But then you remember the theory of the self-fulfilling prophecy and hold back your mean words.
Instead, you use nicer words.
You talk to them positively and tell them the consequences of their actions. You show them how playing the right way can lead to better results.
Now, your player will have a better chance at improving their skills instead of being influenced by the negative prediction.
Additionally, by understanding the self-fulfilling prophecy, you will be more empathetic to people, in general, because you acknowledge that their actions and behaviours are potentially influenced by their past and their social world.
And that’s how understanding the self-fulfilling prophecy can make you a better person.
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