Merton coined the term“ self-fulfilling prophecy” in 1948, defining it as:
“A false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception comes true”
E.g. In some cases, the group that is the target of prejudice is itself responsible for continuing the prejudice. The target group may behave in ways that justify the prejudice, that is, confirm the negative expectations. For Instance, If the target group is described as ‘dependent’ and therefore unable to make progress, the members of this target group may actually behave in a way that proves this description to be true. In this way, they strengthen the existing prejudice.