What does self-fulfilling prophecy mean?

Definitions for self-fulfilling prophecy
self-ful·fill·ing prophe·cy

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word self-fulfilling prophecy.

Wiktionary

  1. self-fulfilling prophecynoun

    A prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true.

  2. Etymology: self-fulfilling + prophecy

Wikipedia

  1. Self-fulfilling prophecy

    A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's or group of persons' belief or expectation that said prediction would come true. This suggests that people's beliefs influence their actions. The principle behind this phenomenon is that people create consequences regarding people or events, based on previous knowledge of the subject. There are three factors within an environment that can come together to influence the likelihood of a self-fulfilling prophecy becoming a reality: appearance, perception, and belief. When a phenomenon cannot be seen, appearance is what we rely upon when a self-fulfilling prophecy is in place. When it comes to a self-fulfilling prophecy there also must be a distinction "between 'brute and institutional' facts". The philosopher John Searle states the difference as "facts [that] exist independently of any human institutions; institutional facts can only exist within institutions." There is an inability of institutional facts to be self-fulfilling. For example, the old belief that the Earth is flat (institutional) when it is known to be spherical (brute) is not self-fulfilling, because Earth's shape is proven through significant evidence. There has to be a consensus by "large numbers of people within a given population"—aside from being institutional, social, or bound by the laws of nature for an idea—to be seen as self-fulfilling. A self-fulfilling prophecy can have either negative or positive outcomes. It can be concluded that establishing a label towards someone or something significantly impacts their perception and influences them to establish self-fulfilling prophecy. Interpersonal communication plays a significant role in establishing these phenomena as well as impacting the labeling process. Intrapersonal communication can have both positive and negative effects, dependent on the nature of the self-fulfilling prophecy. The expectations of a relationship or the inferiority complex felt by young minority children are examples of the negative effects of real false beliefs being self-fulfilling.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), stating that, "If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences." Because of the way the couple defined a self-fulfilling prophecy, their definition was regarded as flexible in its meaning. On a societal level, there can be a consensus on what's deemed true depending on the importance of the part of the culture even if it is a false assumption and as a result of this perception of the culture it will become the outcome based on the behavior of the society. A person's perception can be "self-creating" if the belief they have is acted upon by their behavior which aligns with the outcome. Building on the Thomases’ idea, another American sociologist, Robert K. Merton, used the term "self-fulfilling prophecy" for it, popularizing the idea that "a belief or expectation, correct or incorrect, could bring about a desired or expected outcome." While Robert K. Merton is typically credited for this theory because he coined the name; however, the Thomases developed it earlier on—along with the philosophers Karl Popper and Alan Gerwith—who also independently contributed to the idea behind this theory in their works, which also came before Merton. Self-fulfilling prophecies are an example of the more general phenomenon of positive feedback loops.

Wikidata

  1. Self-fulfilling prophecy

    A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to positive feedback between belief and behavior. Although examples of such prophecies can be found in literature as far back as ancient Greece and ancient India, it is 20th-century sociologist Robert K. Merton who is credited with coining the expression "self-fulfilling prophecy" and formalizing its structure and consequences. In his book Social Theory and Social Structure, Merton defines self-fulfilling prophecy in the following terms: e.g. when Roxanna falsely believes her marriage will fail, her fears of such failure actually cause the marriage to fail. In other words, a positive or negative prophecy, strongly held belief, or delusion - declared as truth when it is actually false - may sufficiently influence people so that their reactions ultimately fulfill the once-false prophecy.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of self-fulfilling prophecy in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of self-fulfilling prophecy in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of self-fulfilling prophecy in a Sentence

  1. Sarah Audelo:

    We need to see the vice president making a real effort to bring young voters in, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when candidates say young people won't vote and then fail to target them.

  2. Stephen Massocca:

    It is amazing how correlated everything is to oil. That sort of becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, that oil is going down so people sell stocks.

  3. Michel Rauchs:

    The recent rally has been driven by the usual hype cycle that we have very reliably seen every two to three years, we have these mini-bubbles, and the momentum that it creates - bitcoin first, then these other coins. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

  4. Ritholtz Wealth CEO Josh Brown:

    If enough people believe it's time to rein in their spending -- and then act on that belief -- it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

  5. Gabriel Sterling:

    If you're a Georgia voter, if you want your values reflected by your elected officials, I strongly beg and encourage you : Go vote tomorrow. Do not let anybody discourage you. Do not self-suppress your own vote. Do not make a self-fulfilling prophecy out of doing this. Don't let anybody steal your vote that way, that's what's happening if you self-suppress : You are taking away your important voice from this election.


Translations for self-fulfilling prophecy

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • self-fulfilling prophecyDutch

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"self-fulfilling prophecy." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/self-fulfilling+prophecy>.

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