Self-fulfilling prophecy

The self-fulfilling prophecy is when one person’s expectations about another person actually lead that person to fulfill those expectations (Merton, 1948). Merton’s theory was mostly ignored until Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) studied the prophecy in context of teacher’s expectations of students in the classroom. They found that when teachers have higher expectations of certain students, this actually influenced those students’ performance to be higher (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968). The interesting part to me is that the teachers did not purposely change their behavior towards the children with higher expectations, it happened without them even realizing it (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968).

I have had similar experiences with the self-fulfilling prophecy in volleyball. As a senior that has played volleyball at SU for 4 years, I can look back and really see how much I’ve changed and improved over the years.  Its actually kind of incredible how much I’ve improved both mentally and physically. I think a huge part of it is my coach and the expectations she has set for me. Coming in as a freshman, she knows the potential you have and how to get you there. Subconsciously, she treats each of us differently depending on her expectations, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Unknowingly, I worked harder every year to meet her increasing expectations. This year, she told me she has the highest expectations for me than anyone on the team. That scared me to death, but at the same time, it’s a huge compliment knowing I’ve met her expectations in the past and she knows I can perform better than even I know I can.

In regards to our fitness test every year, we have to meet certain goals at the beginning of the season. As a freshman, you have to do 38 push-ups, run a 1:08 min 300-yard shuttle, do 45 sit-ups in a minute, and run an 8 minute mile. After you make these goals every year, they increase for the next year. The very first time I got the summer workout packet, I thought there was no way I could ever make those goals. But as her expectations rose over the years, by some miracle, I did improve my fitness goals. As a senior, I did 50 push-ups, ran a 1:00 shuttle, did 70 sit-ups, and ran a 7:30 mile. I never in a million years would have predicted as a freshman that I would be capable of accomplishing those goals.

I didn’t even realize it at the time, but I was constantly adjusting my behavior to meet my coach’s expectations. Looking back, I’m amazed at the progress I’ve made!!

References:

Merton, R.K. (1948). The self-fulfilling prophecy. The Antioch Review, 8, 193-210.

Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom: Teacher expectation and pupils’ intellectual development. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

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Library Struggles

This past week, I was in the library attempting to read the Wegner article (the one about ironic processing). The theory of ironic processing states that sometimes, the harder you try not to think about a thought, feeling, or behavior, the less likely you will be able to ignore it (Wegner, 1994). I was there with my roommate and a potential romantic interest… of course I was distracted. It was the most ironic thing, sitting there reading about trying to force yourself to focus when there is absolutely no hope. I believe the article was only about a page and a half long, but it took me an hour and a half to read it. A little pathetic.

But it wasn’t my fault! According to Wegner (1999), every effort we make at maintaining focus is accompanied by a concern about failing to do so. There is an intentional operating process, which is our conscious effort about not thinking about something. Then there is the ironic monitoring process which checks whether or not we are succeeding at blocking out that thought. This ironic monitoring process is an automatic process going on in the background. Our cognitive load determines which process wins out. If we are feeling stressed, tired, or distracted, the process that takes conscious effort (intentional operating process) will fade out and the unwanted thought will keep popping up, since the ironic monitoring process is still searching to see if the thought is being suppressed.

Therefore, as you can imagine, my situation in the library was a losing battle. No matter how hard I tried not to get distracted by the guy sitting next to me, he just kept popping back up in my head. Finally after about an hour and a half, I managed to skim through the shortest article ever assigned to me in all of Southwestern reading history. I had to go back and re-read the article later anyway. My advice to you is this: if you’re tired, distracted, hungry, or whatever, that thought WILL win out. And you’ll probably waste half of your night trying to fight it. So give up and try again later!!

References:

Wegner, D. M. (1994). Ironic processes of mental control. Psychological Review, 101, 34-52.

Wegner, D. M. (1999). The Seed of Our Undoing. Psychological Science Agenda, 10-11.

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Fake It Till You Make It

While reading this past week, facial feedback hypothesis in particular really stuck out to me. Facial feedback hypothesis is the idea that changing your facial expression or body language can lead to matching changes in emotion (Laird, 1974). I use this concept constantly as an athlete. Especially during volleyball matches, I don’t play well if I’m stressed out or thinking too much. After I make a mistake or if I’m struggling, I try to smile and laugh it off. It really does help me relax and move on to the next point.

Research (Keillor et al., 2003; Kleinke et al., 1998) shows we can vary our emotions by contracting certain facial muscles and wearing different expressions. Even when you feel completely down in the dumps, if you smile, you will feel happier. This is also in part due to the physiological arousal in our brain that comes from contracting different facial muscles. According to Schachter and Singer (1962), the two-factor theory of emotion states that we experience emotion from physiological arousal and how we cognitively interpret that arousal. Once your brain becomes physiologically aroused, its processing: “If I’m smiling, I must be happy.”

You always hear the phrase, “fake it till you make it.” Our coach will say to us if you’re unconfident in one area of your game, fake confidence until you pick it back up. If you act confident standing tall with shoulders raised, your chest expanded, and your head held high (the book calls this expansion), you tend to feel more confident. On the other hand, if you’re slumped over with your head lowered and shoulders slumped (contraction), you’ll begin to feel more gloomy and insecure (Stepper & Strack, 1993). When I was a freshman, my coach yelled at me constantly for “looking passive” on the court. I never quite understood what she meant… To her, I looked timid and scared (I probably was!!!), but my body language effected how I felt and played. Now, even without realizing it, I am constantly trying to control my emotions by controlling my outward appearance.

             

When in doubt, smile and you’ll feel better!!! J

References:

Keillor, J. M., Barrett, A. M., Crucian, G. P., Kortenkamp, S., & Heilman, K. M. (2003). Emotional experience and perception in the absence of facial feedback. Journal of the International Neurological Society, 8, 130-135.

Kleinke, C. L., Paterson, T. R., & Rutledge, T. R.(1998). Effects of self-generated facial expressions of mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 272-279.

Laird, J. D. (1974). Self-attribution of emotion: The effects of expressive behavior on the quality of emotional experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29, 475-486.

Schachter, S., & Singer, J. (1962). Cognitive, social, and psychological determinants of the emotional state. Psychological Review, 69, 379-399.

Stepper, S., & Strack, F. (1993). Proprioceptive determinants of emotional and nonemotional feelings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 211-220.

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