Self Fulfilling Prophecy

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One of the concepts discussed in Chapter Two of LOOKING OUT/LOOKING IN is that of the self-fulfilling prophecy (page 57). According to Adler and Procter, the self-fulfilling prophecy “occurs when a person’s expectations of an event, and his or her subsequent behavior based on those expectations, make the event more likely to occur than would otherwise have been true” (page 57). In other words, if a person believes he or she can do something, he or she is more likely to succeed at that task. There are two categories of the self-fulfilling prophecy. One category is the self-imposed prophecy when a person’s expectations influence his or her behavior. The second category is imposed by one person on another (page 57-58). I believe the self-fulfilling prophecy is a valuable concept, especially to the shaping of the self-concept. The self-fulfilling prophecy helps people understand how their thoughts manifest into actions that result in the thought and conclusions about whether an individual is smart or not, strong or weak, or any other description of the self that a person holds true in their self-concept. If a person believes they are smart and can pass a physics exam, that person is more likely to do well on the exam, leading to the conclusion they must be smart, and that positive image of the self is added to their self-concept. Nearly three years ago, my husband and I got married in California. Our wedding day should have been one of the happiest days of my life, but instead, it was incredibly bittersweet. Just eight days before we were married, my mom, my daughter, and I were involved in a car accident in which my mom lost her life. My mom had been a huge part of my life and had always been part of all my major life events, and now for the first time, I was facing one without her. I knew in my heart I had to follow through with the wedding plans. That is what my

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