Final answer:
A self-fulfilling prophecy is the phenomenon where a person's behavior is influenced by others' expectations, potentially leading to the expected outcome. This effect illustrates that belief and action can create outcomes that fulfill initial expectations, whether positive or negative, thereby making the initial assumption true.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy is one where an expectation held by a person can alter their behavior in a way that makes the expectation come true. This is true because these expectations can influence how people treat others, which in turn may affect how those being judged behave. For example, if an employer expects an employee to perform poorly based on the employer's preconceived notions, the employee may indeed end up performing poorly due to lack of support or negative feedback. Conversely, positive expectations can lead to a better performance. The research by Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) demonstrated that disadvantaged students performed better academically when their teachers held higher expectations for them.
Example of a Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Consider the case where a bank is rumored to be on the brink of collapse. If a large number of customers believe this to be true and withdraw their funds, the bank may indeed fail due to a lack of liquidity. Therefore, the customers' false belief materializes into reality purely because the belief was acted upon, confirming the idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In the workplace, similar dynamics can be seen with the Hawthorne effect, where employees improve their performance simply because they are being observed. This does not directly relate to self-fulfilling prophecy, but it's another example of how expectations and behavior can affect outcomes.