IN SEARCH OF THE POWERFUL SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY

This research examined moderators of naturally occurring self-fulfilli ng prophecies. The authors assessed whether positive or negative self- fulfilling prophecies were more powerful and whether some targets were more susceptible to self-fulfilling prophecies because of their self- concepts in a particular achievement domain and previous academic reco rds. Participants were 98 teachers and 1,539 students in sixth-grade p ublic school math classes. Results yielded a strong pattern showing th at teacher perceptions predicted achievement more strongly for low ach ievers than for high achievers. Results also yielded a much weaker pat tern showing that teacher overestimates predicted achievement more str ongly than teacher underestimates. Implications for social perceptual accuracy, self-enhancement theory, and understanding when self-fulfill ing prophecies are stronger are discussed.