Self-Fullfilling Prophecies
• Rosenthal & Jacobson - teacher expectancy effect
• Zanna & Pack (1975)
• Attractive vs. Unattractive Guy
• He likes Traditional or Non-traditionalWomen
• Session 1 take Sex-Stereotypic trait ratings
• Session 2 (3 weeks later) they “meet” guy and find out
what he likes
• Take Sex-stereotypic trait ratings again
• Anagram test
• Word, Zanna, & Cooper (1974) - Stereotypes and the SelfFullfilling Prophecy
Self-Fullfilling Prophecies (cont.)
• Zanna & Pack (1975)
• Attractive vs. Unattractive Guy
• He likes Traditional or Non-traditionalWomen
• Session 1 take Sex-Stereotypic trait ratings
• Session 2 (3 weeks later) they “meet” guy and find out
what he likes
• Take Sex-stereotypic trait ratings again
• Anagram test
Zanna & Pack- Change in Self-Description of
Sex-Role Stereotypic Traits
5.50
4.13
2.75
1.38
0
-1.38
-2.75
Untraditional
High Desirability
Traditional
Low Desirability
Zanna & Pack- Anagram Performance
45
40
35
Untraditional
High Desirability
Traditional
Low Desirability
Self-Fullfilling Prophecies (cont.)
• Word, Zanna, & Cooper (1974) - Stereotypes and the SelfFullfilling Prophecy
• Study 1 - Whites interview Blacks measure non-verable
behaviour
Word, Zanna & Cooper - Study 1
15
10
5
0
Distance
Interview Length
African-Americans
Speech Errors
European-Americans
Self-Fullfilling Prophecies (cont.)
• Word, Zanna, & Cooper (1974) - Stereotypes and the SelfFullfilling Prophecy
• Study 1 - Whites interview Black or White confederate
and measure non-verable behaviour
• Study 2 - Confederates interview White subjects and
treat them like the Blacks or the Whites were treated in
Study 1
Word, Zanna, & Cooper - Study 2
8
6
4
2
Distance
Interviewer Friendliness Speech Errors
African-American
European-Americans
Pieces of the Self-Fullfilling Prophecy
• Confirmation Bias - seeing what you expect to see
• Darley & Gross (1983) - Perceptions of Hannah
Darley & Gross
Pieces of the Self-Fullfilling Prophecy
• Confirmation Bias - seeing what you expect to see
• Darley & Gross (1983) - Perceptions of Hannah
• Confirmatory Hypothesis Testing - Getting people to say
what you expect
• Snyder & Swann (1978) - You ask question that people
are likely to answer in ways that support your
expectations
Snyder & Swann (1978)
7.5
5.0
2.5
0
Extraverted
Extraverted Hypothesis
Introverted
Introverted Hypothesis
Pieces of the Self-Fullfilling Prophecy
• Confirmation Bias - seeing what you expect to see
• Darley & Gross (1983) - Perceptions of Hannah
• Confirmatory Hypothesis Testing - Getting people to say
what you expect
• Snyder & Swann (1978) - You ask question that people
are likely to answer in ways that support your
expectations
• Behavioral Confirmation - Causing people to act the way
you expect
• Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid (1977)
Behavioral Confirmation (Syder, Tanke &
Berscheid) - Breaking it Down
• Men believe women are attractive or unattractive and then
they have a real conversation. The two sides of the
conversation were taped separately.
• Men ask women questions that elicit physical attractiveness
stereotype (men were more pleasant to women perceived to
be attractive)
• Women act in accord with the physical attractiveness
stereotype, the stereotype fullfills itself (women perceived as
attractive were more pleasant & the men perceived them this
way.
• Behavior Confirmation - the men’s behavior creates
confirmation of the stereotype
Review of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Model