Scientific Study Probes Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

A new study demonstrates the power that other people's beliefs have over a person's behavior. Specifically it found that parents may unwittingly cause self-fulfilling prophecies in their children's behavior...

Time and again, research has demonstrated the power of an individual's self-fulfilling prophecies - if you envision yourself tripping as you walk across a stage, you will be more likely to stumble and fall. New evidence suggests that previous studies have underestimated not only the effect of our own negative prophecies, but also the power of others' false beliefs in promoting negative outcomes.

The study involved 115 parents and their seventh grade children. Parents filled out questionnaires that measured their beliefs about their children's alcohol use and the children also filled out a questionnaires at the start of the experiment, including items assessing their past alcohol use. Twelve months later, the children answered a questionnaire that ascertained their recent alcohol use. The results showed that parents' beliefs predicted their children's alcohol use beyond the risk factors - the self-fulfilling prophecy effect. This self-fulfilling effect was strongest when both parents overestimated their child's alcohol use - the synergistic accumulative effect.

However, when one or both parents underestimated their child's alcohol use, their child's predicted increase in alcohol use was similar, showing there was not a synergistic accumulation effect for positive beliefs. This pattern of showing synergistic accumulation for negative beliefs but not positive ones might reflect the manner in which people process negative and positive information. For example, research shows that negative information is more salient than positive information, perceived as more useful, and influences evaluations more. In addition, people also weigh costs more than rewards when making important decisions. Thus, the greater power of unfavorable versus favorable beliefs may reside in how people process negative versus positive information.

These results could be significant when applied to the context of stereotyped groups that frequently bear the brunt of negative, false beliefs. In their everyday lives, individuals from stereotyped groups more often confront unfavorable than favorable beliefs from multiple perceivers due to consensually held stereotypes. A favorable belief may not be able to counteract the harmful effect of an unfavorable belief when there is a preponderance of unfavorable beliefs competing with it. Over time, the negative self-fulfilling prophecy effects could become more powerful as the number of people with negative perceptions increases.

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Comments

[Patrick Meuser]

Hi Nova,
This article almost makes me laugh cause there's so much hype surrounding the premonition and at the same time no self-vverified pre-monitored state in recovery... So much for the gems of a Brave New World, but I think Aldous Huxley wrote it best to see so much contrast in terms of a mask, and typhoid, I think.

But anyway, if we're all prepared in some way for an end, then there must be more meaning to life than just a destination for even prophecy to be 'sel-examined' because it would apply to more than one, person; such is called prodictive, however as much of a 'problem' on the Internet, most people fail to relaie how much Goedel is underrecognized in this regard as opposed to a 'dicatorpship' where the propfits may be confused for a specific-moment istead of instant at that point where the prophecy isn't fulfilled but manifest conditionally in terms of a terra-centric induction, but with no planetoids? Come on, what madnesss to this method, without more forms, but as they've always been constructable, so much in life is populated at a rate that would actaully cancel the prophecy in terms of such a state... Interesting for the legal system in terms that we can all judge, I trust...

Patrick Meuser