Torah Psychology with Dr. Jonathan Lasson-Parshas Devarim-Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Parshas Devarim-Shabbos Chazon
The Psychology of Self-fulfilling Prophecies
Torah Psych101
Dr. Jonathan M. Lasson
Last week we discussed the power of words and how we should not use our words frivolously. They can come back to haunt you as we mentioned in the story of Rav Chaim Kanievsky. I would like to expound on that theme and on the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Shabbos before Tisha B’av is known as Shabbos Chazon because we read from ספר ישעיה which begins with the words חזון ישעיהו (1). One of the many lessons we learn from ספר ישעיה is the concept of אל יפתח אדם פיו לשטן-a person should never open his mouth to the Satan. This refers to speech that might cause harm to the speaker. This seems to be a continuation of last week’s theme for Torah Psychology in that we are dealing once again with the age ‘old self-fulfilling’ prophecy. However, this week, we can actually let the prophet do the talking-namely Yeshayahu.
Yeshayahu calls the Jewish people קציני סדם-the chiefs of Sedom in פסוק י'. Why would he refer to the Jewish people as ‘chiefs of Sodom’, a nation filled with such vile people? Because, the Gemara (2) suggests that the Jews themselves said they deserved to be killed completely just like the people of Sodom.
HaRav Yochanan Zweig asks why this was an example of the quintessential self-fulfilling prophecy if the context was that the Jewish people were showing gratitude that they did NOT end up like Sodom? He suggests that the mere utterance of a negative attribute or a vile nation (Sodom) can impact our self-perception and create a new negative reality of who we are as a people.
For example, if Reuven tells Shimon that he is going to fail his Gemara test because he is not smart enough, he will likely fail the test. Not because he is not smart enough but because he attached a label to himself. A self-fulfilling prophecy.
The term self-fulfilling prophecy was first coined by sociologist, Robert Merton (3) in 1948 which was loosely defined as ‘a belief that leads to its own fulfillment’. In January of 1981, there was a successful investment adviser named Joseph Granville who sent messages to his clients that the stock price will nosedive the next day. “Sell tomorrow”, he advised. This led to one of the heaviest days of trading in the history of the NYSE. That day, January 7, 1981 stock values lost 40 billion dollars. A self-fulfilling prophecy.
The self-fulfilling prophecy does not just happen when countries are about to be decimated or when someone advises to sell your stocks. It happens in everyday life especially in Chinuch. The labels we attach to Talmidim as the ‘top bachur’ or the ‘nebbuch’ leads to this self and other fulfillment prophecies. How true is it that teachers’ evaluative perceptions directly correlate to student performance?
A study conducted by Crano and Mellon (4) on 4300 British schoolchildren showed positively, that high teacher evaluations directly relate to high student performance and vice versa. This finding was originally discovered by Rosenthal and Jacobson in 1968 in a famous experiment where they selected random students in a San Francisco elementary school. They informed teachers that these students were about to have a dramatic ‘intellectual spurt’. Indeed, they did because of the teachers-expectations effect which can be a positive spin on the otherwise, generally negative ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’. We see this as well with teacher ratings and reviews. Let’s say you are a college student and you are trying to choose a math class to take and someone tells you “this class is great. Such a wonderful professor. Just look at his online reviews!” You will likely choose that class with that professor, maybe look at those reviews and go in with a very positive attitude.
In the psychological literature, we find self-fulfilling prophecies occur in school and work settings, in the courtrooms, in police interrogations etc. In our personal lives, we also use the self-fulfilling prophecy, mostly in an unconscious form. For example, if I expect my spouse to be in a good mood, it may affect how I relate to her. This will cause her to confirm my belief.
Understanding the psychology of the self-fulfilling prophecy takes us back to the Haftorah of our Parsha. When the Jews likened themselves to the chiefs of Sodom, they were essentially creating a new reality for themselves. Our words have consequences. Even our thoughts can shape our reality, especially when private thoughts about ourselves become public.
On Shabbos Chazon let us commit to ourselves by changing our thoughts and our speech and create a positive reality. As the Navi ends the Haftorah with his own positive prophecy…
.ציון במשפט תפדה... ושביה בצדקה
Tzion will be redeemed with justice, and her returnees with righteousness.
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(1) Yeshaya 1:1
(2) Berachos 19a
(3) Merton, R.K. (1948). The self-fulfilling prophecy. Antioch Review, 8, 193-210.
(4) Crano, W.D., & Mellon, P.M. (1978). Causal influence of teachers’ expectations on children’s academic performance. A cross-legged panel analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 39-49.