Negative expectations can
lead to self-fulfilling
prophecies

The owners of a small department store in a town of 60,000 residents read that a big box retailer, part of a national chain, would be opening a store nearby. They were afraid that they could not compete with a megastore, and that they would go out of business.

They told employees about this future competition. The department store became a gloomy place to work and customers stopped coming even before the megastore opened.

The company owners were guilty of encouraging a self-fulfilling prophecy.

When people expect that something bad will happen, they begin to behave in ways that make the prophecy turn into fact. Their vision becomes self-fulfilling.

In the above case, the owners believed that events would occur, they behaved consistently with those prophesized events, and their actions contributed to the eventual outcome.

Their interactions with their employees played an important role. They communicated their fears to their employees, who undoubtedly began worrying about their jobs. The employees were then likely to put time and energy into thinking about finding other jobs, rather than attending to good customer service.

Combined with the gloomy atmosphere at the department store's imminent arrival, customers may have received the message that their patronage was not welcome. They stopped coming, contributing to declining sales even before the megastore was built.

Self-fulfilling prophecies can also be positive. If the department store owners had communicated a sense of optimism and asked for constructive suggestions from their employees, they might have found that they could have stayed in business.

For example, owners of small stores can identify types of customers who might not be well served by a big retail store that is part of a national chain.

Some customers like the personal service from well-trained salespeople that megastores cannot always provide. Or, the owners may find that they can develop a loyal customer base through follow-up services after the purchase of products.

The key is that an optimistic attitude may bring improvements that will allow the store to compete. A negative attitude will almost certainly lead to doom.

Self-fulfilling prophecies have effects in many aspects of life.

For example, if people over 50 years of age have a positive attitude about the future, they will engage in behaviors that contribute to good health. They will exercise, stop smoking, be careful about their weight and nurture close friendships.

If teachers expect their students to do well, they will put time and effort into creating classroom activities that allow students to shine.

I have long admired University of Hawaii athletic coaches who do not whine and complain about the rigors of their teams' travels to road games. It is harder to travel east from Hawaii than it is for the opposing teams to travel west from the mainland. In addition, Hawaii teams have to make multiple long trips each season, while visiting teams only travel once to Hawaii.

However, the coaches know that if they dwell on the rigors of road games, they would be communicating a negative attitude to the athletes.

Travel from Hawaii in the inimitable charms of coach class could become an excuse for losing. Instead, coaches focus on a more positive attitude with statements such as, "All teams have to travel, good teams win on the road, and we have prepared ourselves to win."