Self-fulfilling prophecies: the synergistic accumulative effect of parents' beliefs on children's drinking behavior

Psychol Sci. 2004 Dec;15(12):837-45. doi: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00764.x.

Abstract

This research examined whether mothers' and fathers' beliefs about their children's alcohol use had cumulative self-fulfilling effects on their children's future drinking behavior. Analyses of longitudinal data acquired from 115 seventh-grade children and their mothers and fathers were consistent with synergistic accumulation effects for negative beliefs: Parents' beliefs predicted the greatest degree of confirmatory behavior from children when both mothers and fathers overestimated their children's alcohol use. Results did not support synergistic accumulation effects for positive beliefs: Children's predicted future alcohol use was similar regardless of whether one parent or both underestimated their child's alcohol use. These findings suggest that the generally small self-fulfilling effects reported in the literature may underestimate the power of negative self-fulfilling prophecies to harm targets because studies have not taken into consideration the possibility that negative self-fulfilling prophecies may be more likely than positive ones to accumulate across multiple perceivers.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior / psychology*
  • Adult
  • Alcohol Drinking / psychology*
  • Attitude*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Iowa
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Models, Psychological
  • Parent-Child Relations*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Regression Analysis
  • Risk Factors
  • Surveys and Questionnaires