Self-fulfilling prophecy
Prediction that causes itself to become true / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's belief or expectation that the prediction would come true.[1] In the phenomena, people tend to act the way they have been expected to make the expectations come true.[2] Self-fulfilling prophecies are an example of the more general phenomenon of positive feedback loops. A self-fulfilling prophecy can have either negative or positive outcomes. Merely applying a label to someone or something can affect the perception of the person/thing and create a self-fulfilling prophecy.[3] Interpersonal communication plays a significant role in establishing these phenomena as well as impacting the labeling process.[4]
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American sociologists W. I. Thomas and Dorothy Swaine Thomas were the first Western scholars to investigate this phenomenon. In 1928, they developed the Thomas theorem (also known as the Thomas dictum): "If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences."[5] Another American sociologist, Robert K. Merton, continued the research, and is credited with coining the term "self-fulfilling prophecy" and popularizing the idea that "a belief or expectation, correct or incorrect, could bring about a desired or expected outcome."[1][6] The works of philosophers Karl Popper and Alan Gerwith also contributed to the idea.[7]