A 1948 paper by Robert Merton established that certain social events were, to a large extent, influenced by the expectancy effects in different social settings. It wasn’t until 20 years later that Merton’s concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy c...
A 1948 paper by Robert Merton established that certain social events were, to a large extent, influenced by the expectancy effects in different social settings. It wasn’t until 20 years later that Merton’s concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy came to the attention of educational researchers (Clark, 1963; Goldberg,1963).
Since the Oak Elementary School experiment, researchers have conducted well over 100 studies relative to teacher expectations.
It is also important to note that impressions about a certain student may not be the same for two or more teachers.
Futhermore, after an extensive review of the literature, Brophy and Good(1974) concluded that teachers, irrespective of gender, are more negative toward young males, particularly regarding their potential as behavior problems.
In a follow-up study(Martinek & Karper, 1984a), it was discovered that the attractiveness cue was more influential in expectancy formation for older age groups than for younger ones. These data suggested that as children get older, attractiveness becomes increasingly related to performance expectations.