Oedipus effect

A Dictionary of Psychology | Date: 2001

Oedipus effect n. In psychology and the social sciences, the effect of a prediction on the predicted event, the prediction either causing or preventing the event that it predicts, or more generally the influence of an item of information on the situation to which the information refers. The term was coined in 1936 by the Austrian-born British philosopher Karl R(aimund) Popper (1902–94) and published in a journal article in 1944, reprinted in book form in The Poverty of Historicism (Chapter 1, section 5) in 1957, and from it he deduced that ‘exact and detailed scientific social predictions are therefore impossible’ (p. 14, italics in original). See self-defeating prophecy, self-fulfilling prophecy. See also experimenter expectancy effect, Pygmalion effect, unexpected hanging paradox.[So called because the Greek legendary figure Oedipus killed his father, whom he had never seen before, as a direct result of the prophecy that had caused his father to abandon him]


© A Dictionary of Psychology 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001.

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research

MASKS STIFLE EFFECT OF 'OEDIPUS'.(Spotlight)
Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO); 2/18/2005; Bornstein, Lisa; 587 words ; Byline: Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News There's something missing from Oedipus Rex. It sounded so promising when ... devotional. After all, the tale of Oedipus is not action-filled. The events have ... Corinth. As an adult, the unwitting Oedipus met Laius on the road and killed him ... is found will ... Read more
MASKS STIFLE EFFECT OF 'OEDIPUS'
Rocky Mountain News; 2/18/2005; Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News; 542 words ; There's something missing from Oedipus Rex. It sounded so promising when Denver ... group devotional. After all, the tale of Oedipus is not action-filled. The events have ... in Corinth. As an adult, the unwitting Oedipus met Laius on the road and killed him ... Read more
Quayle and Stevenson make `Oedipus' a royal treat
Chicago Sun-Times; 9/30/1988; Lynn Voedisch; 600 words ; ... Anthony Quayle and Juliet Stevenson comprise an unforgettable duo as the blind Oedipus and his devoted daughter Antigone. His face covered with scars, Quayle plays the ... subjected to abject humiliation. Rather than bitterly raving at his plight, Quayle's Oedipus accepts his fate as just punishment for his past ... Read more
HARTFORD'S `OEDIPUS' OPTS FOR PRIDE OVER PASSION
The Boston Globe; 1/24/2001; Patti Hartigan, Globe Staff; 787 words ; HARTFORD - In Sophocles' "Oedipus the King," a plague consumes the city ... be done. Thus begins the tragedy of Oedipus, the man who killed his father, slept ... one man's fate and its devastating effect on the people of his kingdom. At Hartford ... theater troupe arrives to perform "Oedipus" for AIDS ... Read more
'Oedipus' does justice to ancient theater
Deseret News (Salt Lake City); 9/24/2003; Susan Whitney Deseret Morning News; 508 words ; OEDIPUS AT COLONUS, Smith Athletic Center, 550 ... years old in 406 B.C. when he wrote "Oedipus at Colonus." He was also mad at his ... uses flutes and gongs with haunting effect.) Also, the translation the directors ... clean and powerful. The play opens with Oedipus, having blinded himself after he ... Read more