self-fulfilling prophecy
self-fulfilling prophecy A concept introduced into sociology by Robert Merton (see his Social Theory and Social Structure, 1957)
, and allied to William Isaac Thomas's earlier and famous theorem that ‘when people define situations as real, they become real in their consequences’. Merton suggests the self-fulfilling prophecy is an important and basic process in society, arguing that ‘in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evokes a new behaviour which makes the originally false conception come true. [It] perpetuates a reign of error’. See also SELF-DESTROYING PROPHECY; UNINTENDED OR UNANTICIPATED CONSEQUENCES.
, and allied to William Isaac Thomas's earlier and famous theorem that ‘when people define situations as real, they become real in their consequences’. Merton suggests the self-fulfilling prophecy is an important and basic process in society, arguing that ‘in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evokes a new behaviour which makes the originally false conception come true. [It] perpetuates a reign of error’. See also SELF-DESTROYING PROPHECY; UNINTENDED OR UNANTICIPATED CONSEQUENCES.
More From encyclopedia.com
NEARBY TERMS
self-fulfilling prophecy
