The self-fulfilling prophecy is a psychological phenomenon through which we turn anticipated expectations in a certain situation into reality. It is not so much about guessing what is going to happen as about unconsciously provoking it through the firm belief that it is going to happen.
In the following Psychology-Online article, we will analyze What is the self-fulfilling prophecy in psychology?we will talk about the factors that condition it, we will expose the vicious circle to which the people who put it into practice are subjected and we will propose different tools that allow us, on the one hand, to take advantage of the advantages and, on the other, to free ourselves from the negative consequences. by using this phenomenon in our lives.
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
The self-fulfilling prophecy is a psychological phenomenon that was initially studied by sociologist Robert King Merton. He defined it as a false definition of a situation or person that evokes a new behaviorwhich makes the false conception become true.
How to make a self-fulfilling prophecy? The process through which this occurs is as follows:
- A person, faced with a certain situation, generates certain expectations about what is going to happen.
- These same expectations predispose us to react with respect to said result.
- In this way, at a more or less unconscious level, your gaze, your attitude, your thoughts, your physical reactions and your final behavior will be consistent with these expectations, reinforcing them.
- It then happens that the person, with his own action, encourages the achievement of the imagined situation.
In the words of Merton, “andThis misleading validity perpetuates the error” by being the person himself which, without realizing it, causes the anticipated situation. The author concludes that the holder of the false belief will perceive the course of events as proof that he was right from the beginning, with little awareness that it was his own way of acting that led him to do so. provoke the situation.
Examples of self-fulfilling prophecy
This phenomenon occurs at both the individual and social levels and has both positive and negative effects. Some examples of self-fulfilling prophecy would be:
- Thinking that a job interview is not going to go well and, indeed, it does not go well.
- When we think we are going to fall and, finally, we fall.
- If we believe that we are good at something and we complete the task perfectly; when we venture that something is going to go wrong and it ends up going wrong.
- When we believe we deserve affection and, consequently, we have people around us who take care of us.
Factors that condition the self-fulfilling prophecy
The main factor that conditions the self-fulfilling prophecy is . The specific content of the thought we have will determine our emotions and physical, motor, verbal and non-verbal actions. In turn, the type of thinking we have will come conditioned by internal mental schemes that we have built about ourselves, about others and about the world.
If we take into account that the construction of these mental schemes begins in early childhood based on the experiences that occur in our lives, we must consider these life events as first-order factors in determining future self-fulfilling prophecies.
Consequences of the self-fulfilling prophecy
The main consequence of the self-fulfilling prophecy is the occurrence of the mentally anticipated situation. As previously mentioned, this occurs both in the face of positive expectations, such as when we feel capable of passing a test, and negative expectations, for example, when we believe that our partner is going to leave us and, finally, he leaves us.
Let’s see what the types of consequences of the self-fulfilling prophecy are depending on whether they are positive or negative:
- positive prophecies: in positive cases, the consequences are a strengthening of confidence in certain aspects of oneself.
- negative prophecies: they constitute a great slab on people with depressive and negative thoughts that do not allow them to get out of the vicious circle of confirming, with the results, the original negative beliefs. In this article, we tell you.
How to avoid the self-fulfilling prophecy in psychology
The self-fulfilling prophecy It occurs in many of the situations in our lives. and, as has been mentioned, it is due to the influence that our thoughts have on our emotional, physical and behavioral reactions, which end up directing us in one direction or another depending on the content of our thoughts.
To avoid a self-fulfilling prophecy, the best way to address it and heal is with the strength of the mind. In reality, this fact represents a phenomenon of great relevance for psychotherapeutic intervention insofar as it allows, through work with core cognitions and beliefs, to eliminate negative self-fulfilling prophecies and encourage personal strengthening, increasing positive prophecies.
A concrete way to heal the self-fulfilling prophecy in psychotherapy would be the following:
- Carry out an introspection process: a deep analysis that helps us specify the core beliefs that are the basis of our thoughts.
- Become aware of the way in which these beliefs influence: its effect on each of our emotions and actions.
- Check the veracity of these beliefs and commit to two actions: eliminate irrational and false beliefs that hinder our lives and create and strengthen more realistic and positive beliefs that allow us to trust in our own talent and potential.
Becoming aware of the functioning of the self-fulfilling prophecy is a tool of great value for personal growth.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to What is the self-fulfilling prophecy in psychology?we recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- Barrett, L.F., & Gross, J.J. (2001). Emotional Intelligence. A process model of emotion representation and regulation. In TJ Mayne and G.A.
- Bonano (Eds.). Emotions. Current issues and future directions. New York: The Guilford Press Bonano, GA (2001). Emotion self-regulation. In TJ Mayne and GA Bonano (Eds.). Emotions. Current issues and future directions. New York: The Guilford Press.
- Higgins, E.T., Grant, H., & Shah, J. (1999). Seft Regulation and quality of life: Emotional and non-emotional life experiences. In Kahneman, Diener, and Schwarz (Eds.). Well-being: the foundations of hedonic psychology. New York: Russell Sage Foundation