Discuss How Self-fulfilling Prophecies

8/10/2019 Discuss How Self-fulfilling Prophecies

1/28

Dscuss how sel f ful f i l l i ng propheci es

operate

how

they

are

rel ated to

stereotypes

prej udi ce and di scri mnati on and hoW

thei r most i nvi di ous consequences can

be

prevented


2/28

Table

of

Contents

1

I ntroducti on

2

Defi ni ti on of Sel f Ful fi l l i ng Propheci es

2

3

Operati on

of

Sel f Ful fi l l i ng Propheci es 3

4

Relati on

of

Sel f Pul l i ng Prophecies

to Stereotypes

9

5

Prejudi ce

12

6

Dscrimnati on

13

7

Preventi on of Stereotypes Prejudi ce

and

scri ai nati on

14

8

Conclusi on

17

9

Bbl i ography

20


3/28

l

I ntroducti on

Sel f ful f i l l i ng

propheci es

and

thei r

stereotypi ng

prej udi ce and

to

social psychol ogi sts

equal

opportuni ty

rel ate

and occupy the i nterests

of

the Austral i an l egi sl ator today

associ ated phenomena of

di scri mnati on are

of maj or

i nterest

I ssues such

s

mnori ty ri ghts and

di rectl y

to

sel f ful f i l l i ng propheci es

Thi s

essay

expl ai ns the

meani ng

of the termsel f ful fi l l i ng

prophecy and examnes the social psychol ogi cal

whi ch

the

process works

use

of

six

stage model

soci al

setti ng i ndi vi dual

expectati ons i nteracti on

mechanism

by

These mechanism

wl l

be descri bed by

whi ch

i ncludes

these elements

the

background

and bel i efs

devel opment of

and

communi cati on wth other

peopl e


4/28

s

used

to j usti fy

the apparent

val i di ty of prej udi ced vi ews

D scri mnati on,

or unfai r behavi our

towards

other

peopl e,

i s

al so

shown

to

be expl ai ned by soci al i denti ty theory

and

i s j usti f i ed

by

the

sel f-ful f i l l i ng prophecy

process

Lastl y,

speci f i c strategi es

f or

reversi ng the harmul effects

of

sel f- ful fi l l i ng propheci es are suggested such

as

educati on,

cooperati on, and enhancement and equal i ty

of

di sti ncti ve groups

2

Defi ni ti ons

of

Sel f-ful f i l l i ng Propheci es

The

term

sel f- ful fi l l i ng

prophecy

was i ni ti al l y suggested

by

Merton

(1948)

He defi ned i t as a fal se

def i ni ti on

evoki ng

new behavi our whi ch makes

the

ori gi nal l y fal se concepti on

come


5/28

confi rmed

The

expectati ons concept

gai ned popul ari ty

and stimul ated

massi ve

research

as

resul t of a

book

by Rosenthal and

J acobsen

(1968)

on how one

person s expectati ons

for

another person s behavi our

can qui te unwtti ngl y become

a

more

adequate

predi cti on

simpl y

for i ts having been

made (p

123

I ni ti al teacher

expectati ons were

found by

these authors

to

be

matched by

the

subsequent

behavi our

and

performance

of thei r

students Teachers who

possessed hi gh expectati ons

for

certai n

students found that the

performance

of

the students

improved

to

match these

expectati ons Conversel y, students who

were

l abel l ed

as

sl ower

or as

behavi our probl em performed

l ess wel l

and al -


6/28

3 Operati on of Sel f -Ful f i l l i ng Propheci es

An

overvi ew

of the

operati on

of sel f -ful f i l l i ng prophecy i s

demonstrated i n

the

di agram bel ow

The

model

i s

based on i deas

from

Snyder Swann

198

4 combi ned

wth

Brophy 1982

Tabl e 1 A hodel

For the Operati on

of Sel f-Fi l l i ng

Prophecy

I nsert Tabl e

1

Here

FromAppendi x


7/28

Stage 2 : Fi rst

impressi ons

or expectati ons

aroused by

these

hi ghl y

apparent characteri sti cs

are

based

on

assumpti ons

about

these

characteri sti cs

di ctated

by

the

i ndi vi dual s previ ous

experi ence

or

by

conformty to

group

norm

and stereotypes

Cogni ti ve

psychol ogi sts term these

preconcepti ons

as

schema

These are

presented as a means for

simpl i fyi ng deci si on

maki ng by

di storti ng

percepti on and

memory to

confi rm the

model (Fi ske

Taylor, 1984)

Everyone

carri es

these

i mpl i ci t

personal i ty

theori es,

which

domnate j udgments

about other

peopl e(Schnei der,

1973, i n Deaux

Wi ghtsman, 1988)

The

i ndi vi dual

may recal l

or

i magi ne scenari os

based

on

hi s

impressi ons and imagi ne

future

i nteracti ons

Abel son (1981),

f or


8/28


9/28

ti on

to

l ows,

i gnores

thei r

comments,

asks fewer

questi ons,

provi des l ess wai t

time

for

answers, spends

more

time

on

di sci -

pl i ne, paces

the

students more sl owy and accepts

poorer perform

ance Feedback woul d

i ncl ude more cri ti ci sm

l ess

prai se and

l ess

feedback

Personal communi cati ons

were

af fected

by

pl aci ng

l ows

at

the back,

and

by negati ve body

l anguage

such

as fewer

sml es, eye

contact or warmh Students

categori sed as hi ghs

recei ve

the

reverse treatment

Stage

Behaviours of

the

actor do communi cate to

the

target

i m

pressi ons about how the target

s

expected

to behave or

perform

The

process

i s

anal ogous

to

primng,

a

process i n whi ch

the

actor

accesses

the

rel evant sel f -schema

to

the

f oref ront

of

the

target s

thi nki ng(Hggi ns Ki ng,

1981

i n beaux

Wi ghtsman,


10/28

bal ance

fort

of

be

expected

that

behavi our

and performance

wl l

l i ne

to match

wth

the sel f -concept

created by

trenched

expectati ons The

target s bel i efs

are

congruent

and reciprocal

behaviours

the handi cap

are

has

conf i rmed i n

sel f -concept

amwhat

do or

because

act

that

way,

Stage 5

Festi nger (1954)

has expl ai ned

that peopl e seek

to

thei r behaviours

wth thei r bel i efs

to

avoi d the

di scom

cogni ti ve di ssonance

I n order to reduce

anxi ety i t may

be

brought

i nto

the

actor s en-

transl ated

i nto

Gof fman

(1963)

has

demonstrated

how sti gmati sed

groups

such

as

forced to

pl ay

stereotyped rol es

Bem (1972)

sel f -percepti on theory

how peopl e defi ne

thei r

They

observe thei r own

acti ons

bel i evi ng that

must

be that

sort

of


11/28

When

expectanci es

are ful fi l l ed

i n

desi rabl e way the actor

attri butes

conf i rmati on to

the

di sposi ti on or

personal i ty

of

the

target

.

I f

expectati ons

are not

ful f i l l ed,

the

actor

may at-

tri bute di sconf i rmati on

ao the

si tuati on

I n

contrast,

i f

undesi rabl e expectati ons are

conf i rmed by

an

out-group, these

are attri buted

to

the di sposi ti on

of

the

group

I f

undesi rabl e expectati ons

are not

confi rmed,

attri buti on

i s

to

transi tory factors i n the

si tuati on(Petti grew 1979)

.

As Ml l er

and

Turnbul l

(1988)

concl ude, behavi ours are

i nterpret-

ed

consi stentl y wth

expectanci es and the actor

may

bel i eve

that


12/28

Snyder et al 1982

resol ve

that

. bel i efs

about peopl e

are

acti vel y

i nvol ved

i n

i ni ti ati ng

and

gui di ng

the

course

and

outcome of soci al

i nteracti on and the

rememberi ng

and

i nterpreta-

ti on

of events

rel evant to these bel i efs

. (p

.292)

4 Rel ati on

of

Sel f -Pul l i ng

Propheci es to

Stereotypes

Stereotypes

are def i ned b

y

Hogg

and

Abram

(1988)

as

general i za-

ti ons

about peopl e based

on

category membershi p (p. 65

Li ppmann

(1922,

i n

Hogg

Abram, 1988)

has seen

them

as simpl i f i ed vi ews

of

the

soci al worl d

which

are

fal se,

ri gi d,

and di f f i cul t to

change

There are di f ferent

mechani sm for the

devel opment of

stereo-

types

The

soci al cogni ti ve vi ew

of stereotypes as

rol e-schemata

whi ch

contai n

speci f i c soci al

rol es

has been cri t i ci sed(Hogg


13/28

i denti ty

i s i nf l uenced by

the

soci al category to whi ch person

belongs

The group percepti on provi des

sel f-def i ni ti on and

means to

simpl i fy,

order

and understand

soci ety

Members

o

i n-groups are regarded and see themel ves

as homoge-

neous

i n

atti tudes

and

behaviours

I n-groups are

general l y

per-

cei ved

as

cohesi ve

and

di fferent

from

other out-groups Peopl e

categori se others

as

members

or non-members of

the

same group

They accentuate or

stereotype

di fferences

between i n

and out

groups through social

compari son

i n order

to

stereotype

or

defi ne

the

posi ti ve aspects of thei r

own

group I n-groups are pre-

ferred

and seen

to occupy an i deal

posi ti on

Out-groups are

stereotyped

i n

di sparagi ng way

by

i n-group

members

Such

vi ews

are

l earned

by referent i nformati onal i nf l u-


14/28

1 2

accordance

wth the theory of sel f-ful f i l l i ng prophecy

Gender

stereotypes

are parti cul arl y

apparent wth

expectati ons

that

men are domnant, i ndependent, competi ti ve,

ambi ti ous

and

aggressi ve Women are usual l y percei ved

s

submssi ve,

depend-

ent,

conformng, affecti onate

and

sympatheti c

Skrypnek and Snyder 1982 have i l l ustrated

how such stereotyped

bel i efs about the nature

of

the sexes caused behavi our whi ch con-

f i rmed these bel i efs Peopl e are f requentl y manoeuvred

to

el i ci t

behavi ours whi ch conform

wth

the expected

rol e

An

experi ment

i nvol ved pai rs

of

unacquai nted

students who i nteracted

i n

si tuati on whi ch permtted control

of

knowedge

of

the

opposi te

sex Skrypnek

et l 1982 One member was gi ven an expectati on


15/28

personal

l evel by

usi ng

such

Freudi an theori es

as repressed

aggressi on and

proj ecti on onto out-groups Hogg

Abrams,

1988

Other expl anati ons

i ncluded frustrati on

i n achievi ng goal s

wth

subsequent

aggressi on vi a di spl acement

on conveni ent

out-groups

or scapegoats

Out-groups are presumed

to be

power-seeking and

are

sought to be

el imnated

At

the

group

l evel

stereotypi cal bel i efs

about the characteri s-

tics of

another group

are

usual l y

l earned

by

operant condi ti oning

or

model l i ng from

other members of the

group through thei r

conformance

to

norms These bel i efs

are

transformed

i nto

i nappropri ate

behaviours

whi ch

l ead

to conf i rmati on

of

the

prej udi ce n

addi ti on, attenti on,

di verted from the

domnant

group, uni tes

the i n-group Hogg

Abrams,

1988 A

common

form


16/28

ers McKi rnan, Smth Hamayan, 1983,

i n

Deaux

Wi ghtsman,

1988 have found that si ml ari ti es i n bel i efs reduce prej udi ce

and

di scri mnati on

.

Both vi ews f i t the soci al i denti ty

groups

accentuate di f ferences between

i nclude

peopl e who

were

si ml ar to

scarce resources

and the need

of

the i n-group,

prej udi ce

towards

outsi ders

Expectati ons

of

bi zarre behavi ours

of

out-groups

tend to l ead

to

these prej udi ced

behavi ours

by

i n-

group

members

and

to

the

subsequent

mai ntenance

of

di scri mnatory

pol i ci es by the i n-groups

Many

studi es have

i nvesti gated

the

effects

of

sex di scri mnati on

i n

busi ness Brown,

1986 . Wth resumes

of

equal

qual i ty,

4

model whi ch

suggests

that

i n

and out

groups but woul d

the i n-group

Because of

to

mai ntai n

the cohesi ve

boundari es

and

di scr i mnati on

are

di spl ayed

by members

varyi ng


17/28

whi ch reduce

thei r harmul

effects

At

a

i nter-personal l evel ,

i nterpersonal

i nteracti on

has

been

a

way

to

devel op fri endshi ps

and

di sprove stereotypi cal

bel i efs

wrote

that

prej udi ce

may

be

between majori ty

and

mnori ty

goal s The effect

i s greatl y

s ncti oned

by i nsti tuti on l

Al l port

(1954,

i n

Brown, 1986)

reduced

by

equal status

contact

groups i n

the

pursui t

bf

common

enh nced

i f

thi s

cont ct

i s

supports

. ( p 613

I t i s

presumed

that

the

provi si on

of more

accurate i nformati on

through

regul ar and

cl ose contact al ters

expectati ons and the

i nvi di ous

effects of sel f- ful fi l l i ng

propheci es Peopl e may

di scover that thei r

bel i efs

may

have been

wrong Equal power

and

who inter ct h ve een

found

to be

1 5


18/28

Educati on may

provi de

a

means

to

provi de processes

to

avoi d

techni ques l eadi ng

to

sel f- ful fi l l i ng

propheci es

Snyder et al

1982

recommend

teachi ng peopl e

to di sprove

thei r

hypotheses

rather than

seeki ng evidence to

confi rmthem

He

al so

suggests

that peopl e

may be

sensiti vi sed

to

i mpressi on

management

so that

they wl l

work

to be broad mnded

Other wri ters

emphasi se

the

need

to

use

unbi ased textbooks

whi ch present hi gh

expectati ons

for

other

cul tures and mnori ti es Parsons,

1982)

Wi ters

seek-

i ng gender

equal i ty urge

non-di scri mnatory

l anguage,

use

of

women

as

wel l

as

men exampl es

and

positi ve

di scri mnati on

for

women

i n

search

of

careers Oregon,

1987)

Hutsl ar

1977)

has suggested

that

peopl e be

trai ned

to empl oy a

si ngl e subj ect eval uati ve model ,

whereby an area

of

i nterest i s

chosen,

basel i ne

data

on

i nteracti ons

i s

col l ected,

expectati ons


19/28

practi ces i n j ob hi ri ng decrease

wth the

provi si on of useful

i ndi vi dual i nformati on about

the candi dates(p

602 Brown

(1986)

concl udes

that

when i nformati on i s avai l abl e that i s hi ghl y

rel evant

or di agnosti c, i t

can

overcome

the ef fects

of

group

prejudi ce

and ecome the

excepti on

that re ks the

rul e (p

. 608)

Hogg and

Abram

(1988)

say

that a

producti ve

approach

must

focus

at

the

group

l evel Fi rstl y,

i ntergroup status

and power

structures must

be equal i sed i n a

way

whi ch

undermne stereotyp-

i cal

di f ferences I n

thi s

process,

educati on must be accompani ed

by obj ecti ve measures

to

equal i se educati onal

and

economc out-

comes between

groups

Harvey

(1988) ,

for i nstance,

i n an

examnati on

of

Austral i an Abori gi nes asserts the need

for further


20/28

quentl y, the majori ty

opi ni on

may

change

to

favour

mnori ty

groups

Expectations

for

these groups change to become positi ve

The sel f -ful f i l l i ng

prophecy process operates

posi ti vel y to

enhance the achievement

of

these groups

The existence

of

and

l oyal ty

to

isti n t groups may

help to

prevent

discrimnation Brown,

1986)

Thi s process i s apparent, for

i nstance,

i n

the promoti ng

of

the

French language i n Quebec, Canada

from i ts

former

status as a

mnori ty l anguage Now i t i s

the sole

l anguage

of Quebec

and

a

requi rement

for

pol i ti cal success

and advancement

i n

the

Canadi an

civi l service Brown,

1986)

Expectati ons for

French speakers

have changed

froma view

that the l anguage

represented a

ethni c

trap to

the

vi ew that the

bi l i ngual

ski l l was an

essenti al

attri bute

for

advancement

8


21/28

vi de

basi s

for

bel i ef s

and

subsequent behavi ours These

bel i ef s

take

the

f ormof

schema

or

scri pts

whi ch

di stort real i ty

9

Stage

3

i nvol ves

acti ng

on

the basi s

of

bel i ef s

i n

way that

communicates

di rectl y

or

i ndi rectl y though

body

l anguage

the

bel i ef s

of

the

actor

I n

stage

4 the

target develops

hi s sel f i denti ty

s

resul t

of

the

consi stent

i mpact

of

stereotyped behavi our Thi s

sel f

i denti ty

determnes

hi s

or

her moti vati on and acti ons

n

stage

5

the

target

matches hi s acti ons wth

hi s

or

her be

l i ef s

and

behaves i n way

whi ch conf i rm

the

ori gi nal

bel i ef s

Lastl y

i n

stage 6 the

actor

i nterprets the

behavi ours

of

the

target

as

ful f i l l i ng

hi s

or

her

ori gi nal

bel i efs Dstort i on or


22/28


23/28

enh nce


24/28

9

Bi bl i ography

Abel son, R P

1981

Psychol ogi cal

status of

the

scri pt

con-

cept

Ameri can

Psychol ogi st

6

715-729

2 2

Al l oy, Lauren

B

1985

Psychodi agnosti c

and

psychotherapeuti c

ud

ments Ex e~ctati on-Based

ases i n ovariati on

Assessment Paper

presented at

the Annual

Conventi on of

the

Ameri can Psychol ogi cal

Associati on Los

Angeles

ERIC

Docu-

ment

Reproducti on

Servi ce

No

ED262306

Aronson,

E

B aney,

N

T . ,

Si kes,

J . ,

Stephen, C Snapp, M

1978

The

j i gsaw cl assroom

Beverl ey H l l s,

Ca

Sage

Bem

D J 1972

Sel f -percepti on

theory

I n

L

Berkowtz

2 3


25/28

Mel l on, P 1978

Causal

i nf l uence

of

teachers

~ectati ons

on

chi l dren

academc performance J ournal of

cati onal Psychol ogy

70

39-49

J

M

. Gross,

P

H

. 1983)

A

hypothesi s-conf i rmng

bi as

i n l abel l i ng effects J ournal

of

Experimental

Soci al

Psychol ogy

40

20-33

Deaux,

Kay

Wi ghtsman, Laurence

S

1988)

Soci al Psychol ogy

New

York Brooks/Cdl e

and

Nel son

Festi nger,

L

1954)>

The Theory

of

Cogni t i ve

D ssonance

Stanford,

Ca

Stanford Uni versi ty

Press

Fi ske, S T .

Tayl or,

S E

1984)

Soci al

Cogni ti on

Readi ng,

Mass

Addi son-Wesl ey

Gof fman,

E

1959) The presentati on

of

sel f

i n everyday

l i f e


26/28

Hutsl ar,

Sal l y 1977 I S

the expectancy phenomenon

operati ng i n

my gym

ER

ocument Reproducti on Servi ce

No

ED

211534

Parsons,

J im

The nature and

im

pl i cati ons

of

textbook bi as

ERC

Document Reproducti on Servi ce

No

ED280769

4

J ones,

S

C

Pani tech,

D

1971

The sel f -ful f i l l i ng prophecy

and

i nterpersonal attracti on

J ournal

of Experimental

Social

Psychol ogy 356-366

Merton, R F

1948

The sel f- ful fi l l i ng

prophecy Anti och

Revi ew 8 193-210

Oregon State

Uni versi ty

1987 El imnati ng

Sexi sm i n the

Cassroom ERC

Document

Reproduction

Service

No

ED286393


27/28

Skrypnek,

B J

Snyder,

M

1982)

On

the

sel f-perpetuati ng

nature

of

stereotypes

about

womn and mn J ournal

of

Experi m

ntal

Psychol o

8

277-291

Snyder,

M

Swann,

W

B

J r

.

1978)

Hypothesi s

testi ng proc-

esses

i n

soci al i nteract i on

J

ourna

l

of

Personal i ty

and

Soci al

Psychol ogy

6

1202-1212

Snyder,

Mark

1984)

When bel i ef

creates

real i ty Advances i n

Experi mntal Soci al Psyc

hol og

8

247-315

2 5

=

~~

n a

r ~r c~pnec~r

~


28/28

1

r ac i al Context

~

I nter act i on

2

Expect at i ons

Behavi a~r s Test ed

I r ~t e r a c t i on

Behavi our s Car nmuni cat e Expect at i ons

Tar get devel ops Sel f - expec tat i ons

T ar~et

di spl ays behavi our s

Behavi a~r s

i nt er pr etated as

conf i rmng

bel i ef s

Date post:	02-Jun-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	fluidmindfulness
View:	216 times
Download:	0 times

Discuss How Self-fulfilling Prophecies

Documents