self-fulfilling

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English

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Etymology

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From self- +‎ fulfilling.

Adjective

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self-fulfilling (not comparable)

  1. Describing a prediction that causes itself to occur as predicted.
    The prediction of poor turnout for the event was self-fulfilling: once people heard the turnout would be bad, they didn't come.
    • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 130:
      Whether or not we believe in astrology is irrelevant; the question is, did the Magdalenians? If so, then in a self-fulfilling prophecy they may have been organizing their lives according to a religious belief system, and not simply an economic or ecological one.
    • 2011 August 7, Paul Krugman, “A Self-Fulfilling Euro Crisis? (Wonkish)”, in The New York Times[1]:
      This is often phrased in terms of whether they are facing liquidity or solvency problems; but I think it’s better phrased in terms of the possibility of self-fulfilling crises, a la Obstfeld.

Derived terms

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Translations

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