The Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Question 1

What is a self fulfilling prophecy ?

Answer 1

Self fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true simply by the virtue of it being made

Question 2

What are the 3 steps of the self fulfilling prophecy ?

Answer 2

Step 1 -the teacher labels a pupil
Step 2 - the teacher treats the pupil accordingly , acting as if the label is already true
Step 3 - the pupil internalises the teacher’s expectations which become part of their self concept and image so the prediction is fulfilled

Question 3

What was the study that rosenthal and Jacobson conducted which showed the self fulfilling prophecy at work ?

Answer 3

Rosenthal and Jacobson show the self fulfilling prophecy at work . They told the school that they had a new test specially designed to identify those pupils who would spurt ahead but this was untrue because the test was in fact simply a standard IQ test , however importantly the teachers believed what they had been told
The researchers tested all the pupils , then picked 20% at random and falsely identified them as spurters . On returning to the school one year later , they found almost half 47% of those identified spurters had made significant regress , the effect was greater on younger children
Rosenthal and Jacobson conclude that the teachers beliefs about the pupils had been influenced by the supposed test result and teachers changed the way they interacted with the “spurters” such as changing amount of attention and encouragement they gave the children

Question 4

How can the self fulfilling prophecy also produce under achievement ?

Answer 4

The self fulfilling prophecy can also produce under achievement , if a teacher has low expectations of certain children and communicate these low expectations in their interaction , these children may develop a negative self concept . They may come to see themselves as failures and give up trying to, thereby fulfilling the original prophecy