Society is just full of expectations. Some good and some bad, but it's up to you to listen to them. This can be the starting basis of a self filled prophecy. A self filled prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true. They happen when we begin to act like the expectation is true , thus changing our behavior according to the expectation. For example, if I grow up with my family members always telling me to become a certain occupation, then chances are I might pursue that occupation later in life. In this scenario, I am fulfilling the expectations brought upon me by becoming that certain occupation. This is my self fulfilled prophecy. This also applies with predictions. For example, I'm going to a party where I know nobody. If I feel optimistic about making friends, most likely I will be more outgoing and be able to make some new friends. If I am going into the party believing that I won't make any friends, I will most likely be more secluded and awkward.
Self fulfilled prophecies are closely related to stereotypes. Expectations are basically the same thing as different stereotypes. I expect an Asian person to become a doctor. I expect blond girls to be dumber. I expect guys to be messy. I expect... With these negative expectations, it is sometimes harmful to use these for your self fulfilled prophecy. This leads to a stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is a situational predicament in which people are or feel themselves to be at risk of confirming negative stereotypes about their social group. For instance, stereotype threat can lower the performance of African Americans taking a test, due to the negative stereotype that African Americans are less intelligent than other groups. In this case, achieving your self fulfilled prophecy is not advisable because I believe people should be at their full potential, and not follow some ignorant stereotype.
In Nancy Mairs essay, "Disability", she is a perfect example of not succumbing to stereotype threat and the self fulfilling prophecy. People with disability are often plagued with the expectation that they are "not there" and that they different. Mairs strives to argue that they are the same. Despite being disabled, she is "like every every other women".
