Positive and negative self-fulfilling prophecies are key elements in human relationships that are often underestimated or misunderstood. The themes and issues examined in the article below play a key role in how I encourage my clients to view themselves.I am grateful to Donna Landry for permission to include the information below from her website. I believe that her own story, which you will find at the end of her article is proof in itself of her thesis.

Self-fulfilling prophecies are predictions about a future event which in turn increases the probability of the occurrence of that event. (Hurley, 1997). Self-fulfilling prophecies can occur in the classroom, in the medical field, in places of employment, in mazes with rats being tested, in relationships, and almost any other type of environment. The main elements for a self-fulfilling prophecy is a perception about someone or something and behavior consistent toward someone or something that in turn, causes the prophecy to come true. It appears that self-fulfilling prophecies are motivated by the environment and behaviors. (Hurley, 1997).

Introduction

There are two types of self-fulfilling prophecies. One type is the Pygmalion effect. This type of self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when one person has a perception and expectations of another and treats that person in a manner consistent with those expectations. The prophet, or the person with the perception, changes his behavior, and that in turn changes someone else's behavior, thus the occurrence of the self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, teachers may have certain expectations from their students. (Hurley, 1996). The teacher may treat the student in a manner consistent with those expectations. Those expectations that the teacher has is transferred to the student. If the teacher has a positive expectation or perception of the student, the teacher conveys that message both verbally and nonverbally to the student. This positive expectation changes the student's perception and expectation and creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. (Hurley, 1997).

The other type of self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when a perception or prophecy is made and people autonomously change their behavior to agree with the prophecy. An example of this is bank failure. There may be a false perception that a bank is in trouble. Depositors withdraw their money and the bank goes bankrupt. There is no person or prophet behaving in a manner to make these people withdraw their money. They withdraw their money because of their own perceptions. (Hurley, 1997).

Research has shown that self-fulfilling prophecies exist regardless of whether the prophecies are true or false. (Hurley,1997). The perception of a bank being in trouble may be true or false, but the outcome is the same if many people have the same perception. The perception that a student will do well in school will be true if expectations are transferred from the teacher to the student. (Hurley, 1997).

Now that we know what self-fulfilling prophecies are, we must understand why, when, and how they occur. Then we must learn to recognize them and deal with them appropriately. It is the inappropriate use of self-fulfilling prophecies which can be detrimental to society as a whole. (Hurley, 1997).

Cause and Effect

Self-fulfilling prophecies are an interesting phenomenon which was first studied by R.K. Merton in 1948. Psychology tends to look at self-fulfilling prophecies in terms of interaction or interpersonal expectations. Merton was not alone in his interest of self-fulfilling prophecies. (Hurley, 1997). Robert Rosenthal discovered the experimental effect of the self-fulfilling prophecy in 1963. He joined with Lenore Jacobson in studying self-fulfilling prophecies in classrooms. They discovered that teachers' expectations of their students impacted on the students' performance. (Hurley, 1997).

Rosenthal showed that positive expectations from teachers are followed by positive performances by students. This teaches us that we should not judge prematurely. Negative perceptions and expectations regarding race, gender, economic status, and political affiliation are some areas where we may negatively effect others. Often, our expectations come true. Rosenthal suggests that we may be partly to blame for this. (Hurley, 1997).

Negative expectations can become self-fulfilling prophecies with our own children. Wanting to protect them from failure, we focus mostly on their shortcomings and communicate expectations of failure to them. Rosenthal's theory teaches that the best way to keep from expecting the worst from people is to make a conscious effort to expect the best from them. One way to do this is to encourage children to value their own ideas and to express those ideas in clear terms. Another way to encourage children is to tell them of their successes. (Bellah, 1998).

Rosenthal and Jacobson present this scenario: A teacher meets the students on the first day of school. The students are individuals, but at first glance, the teacher has already begun to form opinions of them. For instance, some children have bright shiny faces, others have dirty hands and runny noses (Social Psychology, 1974). These children have already been placed in categories in the teacher's mind. As the teacher gets to know the children more, the teacher will expect the shiny-faced children to perform better than the children with dirty faces and runny noses. The teacher will in turn, expect more from the bright children and will expect less from the less intelligent children. (Social Psychology, 1974).

For some of the students these categories can cause great harm. Those students whom the teacher views as less intelligent will be taught less and less. They will fall further and further behind in learning. This process where people make true what they perceive to be true is the self-fulfilling prophecy. (Social Psychology, 1974).

To prove this point, Rosenthal and Jacobson used an elementary school in a lower class community to test their hypothesis that a teacher's perceptions and expectations influence the actual performance of their students. A standard nonverbal test of intelligence was given to all students. (Social Psychology, 1974). The teachers were told by the testers that the results of this test would show which students would display sudden spurts of intellectual advancement. Each teacher was given the names of a few students who would most probably show this rapid intellecutal growth within the year. (Social Psychology, 1974).

Actually, the testers chose a few students at random. The test that was given did not actually measure which students would have rapid intellectual growth during the year. The students chosen were no more likely than any other students to show mentality spurts. These chosen students became special only because their teachers expected more of them. (Social Psychology, 1974).

In the lower grades, students who were expected to bloom showed significantly more improvement in I.Q. scores than those students for whom no expectations were held. These expectations continued to show an influence and continued into the next year. (Social Psychology, 1974).

Rosenthal and Jacobson offered several explanations for these results. Teachers may have paid greater attention to those children whom they expected to see bloom intellectually, they may have given them more encouragement and exhibited more patience toward these chosen children. (Social Psychology, 1974). These teachers may have also communicated, both verbally and nonverbally, to these children that higher standards were being set for them. This, in turn, may have improved the children's self-concepts as well as their motivation to succeed. (Social Psychology, 1974).

Although Rosenthal and Jacobson studies have been criticized because of the methods they used, Rosenthal, in 1973, wrote a comprehensive survey of all studies dealing with the Pygmalion effect. These experiments were conducted not only in classrooms but also with rats in mazes, counselees in high schools and colleges, and trainees in employment areas. (Social Psychology, 1974). It was found that out of a total of 242 studies of the effects of expectations on performance, 35 percent provide evidence of a Pygmalion effect at a significant level which is nearly seven times greater than might be expected by chance. The argument that one person's expectation of another's behavior can be a self-fulfilling prophecy had been substantiated Rosenthal believed, because of this accumulated research. (Social Psychology, 1974).

The importance of these findings for education cannot be overestimated. The results also make it evident that an individual's perceptions of others influence the way that others are treated, the ways in which those others see themselves, and the ways in which they relate to individuals. It is imperative to examine the ways in which people form perceptions and why they view one another as they do. (Social Psychology, 1974).

The impressions human beings form of one another often shape others' reactions to us and effect others' self-perceptions as well. As a result, an impression sometimes becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when a person's expectations actually help cause those expectations to become a reality. (Social Psychology, 1974). Through the process of conceptualization, categorizing, or labeling incoming information about others, we tend to simplify our experiences into categories that help us to generalize, to understand, and to predict. However, oversimplification may cause us to slant our perceptions of others. (Social Psychology, 1974).

Other researchers sought information about the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies regarding students and teachers. In 1992, psychologists Lee Jussim and Jacquelynne Eccles gathered information from teachers and students in a longitudinal study. The longitudinal study was chosen versus a cross-sectional study because the cross-sectional study would not reveal which came first, expectations and then performance, or performance and then expectations due to the performance. (Steinberg, 1996).

Because researchers had information about student achievement both before and after the assessment of teacher expectations, they were able to explore both possible possibilities. Two thousand students were involved in this study. Data was collected regarding student achievement and was gathered at the end of the fifth grade and the beginning of the sixth grade, again at the end of the sixth grade and the beginning of the seventh grade (Steinberg, 1996). Data about teacher expectations were gathered during October of the students' sixth grade. If teacher expectations were correct, researchers argued, there should be a connection between student achievement before the sixth grade and teacher expectation in October. If teachers' expectations really influence students' achievement, they reasoned, the October expectations should predict student performance later in the year, even after taking into account student performances before student expectations were measured. (Steinberg, 1996).

The researchers found support for both possibilities. The teachers' expectations were accurate, in that student achievement in the fifth grade predicted both teacher expectation in the sixth grade and student achievement in the sixth grade. However, these very expectations further influenced student performance because teacher expectations in October predicted whether and how much student achievement changed over the course of the year. (Steinberg, 1996). Based on the size of the various interconnections, the researchers concluded that about 80 percent of the connections between teacher expectation and student achievement came from teachers having accurate perceptions, whereas 20 percent was the effect of the self-fulfilling prophecy. (Steinberg, 1996).

Even though the self-fulfilling prophecy is relatively small in this study, it may be quite powerful when amassed over the years of schooling. If teachers' expectations are unfairly based on characteristics such as student gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background, the longitudinal effect of having teachers with low expectations of students could be significant. (Steinberg, 1996).

A teacher's expectation of a student has a great impact on the student. Winston Churchill told a story to the House of Commons in 1940 which confirms this statement. Teddy Stallard was a boy who was very unkempt. He was expressionless and always answered his teacher, Miss Thompson, in monosyllables. Teddy was unmotivated and was hard to like by other students. Even though Miss Thompson claimed to love all of her students equally, this claim was not completely truthful. (Thomas, 1996).

Whenever she marked Teddy's papers, Miss Thompson felt pleasure when putting checkmarks by his incorrect answers. She put F's on the top of his papers with enthusiasm. Miss Thompson knew Teddy very well. She had all of his records which showed that he had potential, but his home situation was poor. His mother was seriously ill and Teddy received little support from his father. (Thomas, 1996). When Christmas came all the students brought a present to school for Miss Thompson. They gathered around her desk to watch her open them. One present was from Teddy. This surprised Miss Thompson. When she opened it, she found a gaudy rhinestone bracelet with most of the stones missing from it and a cheap bottle of perfume. (Thomas, 1996).

The other students laughed when they saw Teddy's present, but Miss Thompson quieted them by putting on the perfume and letting the students smell her wrist. At the end of the day, Teddy stayed behind after the others left. He told Miss Thompson that she smelled like his mother, who had recently passed away. Teddy also told Miss Thompson that she looked pretty with the bracelet on. After Teddy left, Miss Thompson got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her. (Thomas, 1996).

The next day when the children came to school, they had a new teacher. Their teacher was still Miss Thompson, but she had changed. She was no longer just a teacher, she had become a messenger of God. She committed herself to loving her students and helping them in every possible way. (Thomas, 1996). She helped all the students, especially the slower ones, and especially Teddy Stallard. By the end of the school year Teddy had shown great improvement. He had caught up with most of the students in class and was even ahead of some of them. (Thomas, 1996).

Miss Thompson did not hear from Teddy Stallard for many years. One day she got a letter from him saying he was graduating from high school and was second in his class. Four years passed and another letter came from Teddy. He was graduating from college and was first in his class. (Thomas, 1996). Four years later, Miss Thompson got another letter from Teddy saying he had completed medical school and was getting married. Teddy wanted Miss Thompson to sit in the seat where his mother would have sat. He told her she was the only family he had. Miss Thompson did go to the wedding and sat where Teddy's mother would have sat. She had earned that priviledge. (Thomas, 1996).

Miss Thompson's change of perception and expectations of Teddy Stallard had enabled her to help him. By seeing Teddy in a more positive way, that positive attitude transferred to Teddy and in turn enabled him to heighten his expectations of himself. This was a postive self-fulfilling prophecy. If Miss Thompson had continued her previous course, Teddy would have continued to fail and with no family support, he probably would have dropped out of school at some point. (Thomas, 1996). Miss Thompson's change of attitude toward Teddy allowed her to raise her expectations of him. Because of this change, Teddy grew up and became a very productive member of society. He never forgot where he had gotten his motivation from--Miss Thompson. Her expectations of Teddy turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy. (Thomas, 1996).

Not all self-fulfilling prophecies are positive. Ninety-eight teachers and 1,539 students in the sixth grade public school math classes were involved in a study. The question asked was, which were more powerful, positive or negative self-fulfilling prophecies? Results showed a strong pattern that teacher perceptions predicted achievement more stongly for low achievers than for high achievers. (Madon, Jussim, Eccles, 1997).

Some studies of self-fulfilling prophecies show that more information or better methods of studying students are needed. For example, in a study of teachers' ratings of communication abilities of deaf students, fifteen severely deaf and fifteen profoundly deaf students were tested. The teachers were supposed to rate the clarity of speech and receptiveness to communication. ((Hyde, et al., 1996). The teachers' ratings were compared with students' scores. It was found that the teachers' ratings were generally lower than the students' scores. The ratings and the test scores revealed a low level of association between the two. Only the interconnection between ratings and test scores for fingerspelling had an acceptable level of statistical significance. Teachers' ratings appeared to underestimate the students' communication abilities which could cause a self-fulfilling prophecy. (Hyde, Power, 1996).

On further evaluation of the study, it was felt by the researchers, that a more efficient means of testing deaf students was needed. (Hyde, et al., 1996). By looking at this study, one can gather that it is necessary to have efficient instruments to test students before any significant results can be concluded. Self-fulfilling prophecies can cause harm to students and their overall well-being. Efficient methods must be used to evaluate the students or results of studies done will be insignificant. (Hyde, et.al, 1996). Student and teacher relationships are important to understand. Relationships in general can be more widely understood by understanding the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies.

A study was conducted regarding close relationships and rejection in those relationships. The authors of this study hypothesized a self-fulfilling prophecy where the expectation of rejection leads people to behave in ways that cause rejection from their dating partners. This hypothesis was tested in two studies of conflict. The first study was a longitudinal field study where couples provided daily diary reports. The second was a laboratory study involving behavioral observations. (Downey, Freitas, Michaelis, Khouri, 1998). Results from the field study showed that high rejection sensitive (HRS) people's relationships were more likely to break up than those of low rejection sensitive (LRS) people. Conflict processes that contribute to relationship deterioration were shown for HRS women but not HRS men. Following naturally occurring relationship conflicts, HRS women's partners were more rejecting than were LRS women's partners. The lab study showed that HRS women's negative behavior during conflicts helped explain their partners rejecting and conflicted responses. (Downey, et al., 1998).

Self-fulfilling prophecies can occur in the workplace, as well. An employee, for example, may perform poorly and other team members believe and treat the employee like an underacheiver, thus a self-fulfilling prophecy can occur. Self-fulfilling prophecies can be good or bad. On the other hand, an employee may meet the expectations of others and shed the Pygmalion effect. Whether positive or negative, both types of prophecies have a substantial self-reinforcing effect. Whether expectations are high or low, they trigger more of the same behavior. (Gautshi, 1998).

Another study related to employment regarding the role of target self-presentational goals in the expectation confirmation process, within the context of simulated employment interviews were given. As was predicted, applicants encouraged to be differential, inadvertently yielded to their interviewers' expectations. Applicants who were encouraged to be challenging in order to advance their own agenda did not. (Smith, Newberg, Judice, Biesanz, 1997). The challenge-motivated applicants succeeded in disestablishing negative expectations by presenting favorable information about themselves, even when confronted with negatively confining interview questions. In addition, the self-fulfilling prophecies observed for the motivated applicants carried over to a second interview because of changes in the applicants' perceptions of of themselves after the first interview was completed. (Smith, et al., 1997).

Memory and aging can be another source of self-fulfilling prophecies. The common belief of memory loss during aging has become a primitive belief. Certain aspects such as recognition ability and long-term memory change only minimally. It is only in areas such as attention and sensory perception that aging affects memory. Peoples' beliefs and feelings about aging also affect their capacity to age successfully. In these cases, peoples' beliefs become self-fulfilling prophecies as people become what they feel they would become. (Cavanaugh, 1998).

Even though society tends to have a preconceived perception of aging, some elderly develop their own perceptions. They tend to see aging as just another step in the lifespan. It appears that having a positive self-image enhances the positive perceptions in the aging process, which in turn enhances positive behavior. (Sirois, 1998).

Perceptions often lead to predictions as the following studies show. Two studies examined the relative accuracy of subjects' self-predictions of their future behavior versus predictions made by others who knew them well. Self-predictions were more accurate than those made by subjects' mothers or peers (Shauger, Ram, Greninger, Mariano, 1996). This was especially true when negative outcomes were predicted. Subjects who described themselves as impulsive were more difficult to predict, both for themselves and for others. (Shauger, et al., 1996).

We have all experienced self-fulfilling prophecies, we expect something to happen and we act in ways that increase the likelihood that the expectation will be met. This is true in the medical field as well. For instance, if a patient thinks he will get well, he is more likely to take his medicine and follow his doctor's orders. This, by itself, increases the chances for recovery. (Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 1998). If the patient expects to die, it is likely that he will not feel the need to comply with doctors' orders. This example shows the basic components of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is a reinforcing cycle; an expectation of success will often lead to success, which in turn provides evidence that the original expectation was correct in the first place. (Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 1998). On the other hand, an expectation of failure will often result in an unsuccessful outcome, which in turn validates the negative expectation. In both cases, the outcome created by the expectation supports the authenticity of the original expectation. The expectation, whether positive or negative, gets stronger the more often the cycle is repeated. (Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 1998).

In a study of 152 cancer patients, five staff members rated the patients on attitude toward treatment and evaluated their responses to treatment over an 18 month period. (Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 1998). The results were clear: the patients with a positive attitude had better responses to treatment, those with negative attitudes had poorer responses. (Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 1998). The most important finding of the study showed that a positive attitude toward treatment was a stonger augor of response to treatment than the severity of the illness. Patients who had serious prognoses but positive attitudes did better than patients who had relatively less serious prognoses but negative attitudes. Also, patients who viewed their treatment positively often reported less side effects. (Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 1998).

It is difficult to distinguish between side effects associated with a treatment from those affected by beliefs. A forceful example of this is nausea. Nausea is reported as a side effect to certain treatments. Some patients, however, become nauseated on the way to receive treatment. So, is the nausea induced by the treatment or by the perception that nausea will occur after treatment? (Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 1998).

People are not the only ones studied regarding self-fulfilling prophecies. Rosenthal did not limit his studies to humans. His "maze-bright", "maze-dull" rat experiment proved to have significant findings as well. Rosenthal told experimenters that some of them would be training "maze-bright" rats in mazes while others would be training "maze-dull" rats. These rats supposedly came from genetically superior and inferior strains. (Social Psychology, 1974). These rats were also chosen at random and were labeled randomly. The experimenter with the "maze-bright" rats found, as was expected, that their rats learned much better than did the "maze-dull" rats. When experimenters were interviewed at the end of the study, the experimenters who believed their animals were bright, reported that they felt more satisfied, relaxed, pleasant, and friendly. (Social Psychology, 1974).

In a related study of randomly selecting "Skinner-box-bright" and "Skinner-box-dull" rats, Rosenthal found forty-seven per cent of trainers who had the "dull" animals, complained about the stupidity of their animals, where only five per cent of experimenters with "bright" animals stated those complaints. (Social Psychology, 1974. The trainers of the "dull" rats were so convinced about the lack of trainability of their rats that when the study was completed and they were told that their animals were selected at random and labeled "bright" and "dull", they refused to believe it, no matter what Rosenthal said to them. (Social Psychology, 1974).

The self-fulfilling prophecy had come full circle. Half the experimenters expected their animal to be dull. Those animals did perform poorly and that was sufficient evidence to the trainers of the innate dullness of their animals. (Social Psychology, 1974).

Conclusion

Self-fulfilling prophecies have been explored in relationship to many different populations. They appear to start with a belief or a perception about something. This belief or perception is transferred onto a person, animal, or relationship. The perception, once transferred, causes the person, animal, or relationship to react in way favoring the original perception.

The behavior caused by the perception enhances the expectations of the perception. Self-fulfilling prophecies are a cycle. Self-fulfilling prophecies can be positive or negative. They can be autonomous, such as with aging and bank failure, or they can be of the Pygmalion effect, such as with students, close relationships, employees, or in studies of rats and peoples' perceptions and expectations of them.

Whatever variable is involved, we must strive to look at ourselves, other people, relationships, and animals in a positive light and always be mindful that our perceptions of these variables can cause negative effects. Self-fulfilling prophecies are a cycle which can be broken, as we saw in the case of Teddy Stallard and Miss Thompson. To break the cycle of self-fulfilling prophecies we must keep an open mind and a positive attitude in our lives. We are never sure what harm can be caused by our perceptions, beliefs, and expectations.

References

Bellah, M. November, 1998. The Expectation Effect. Available at: http://www.bestyears.com/expectations.html
Cavanaugh, J. C. (1998). "Memory and Aging". National Forum. 78, 2, 34-38.
Downey, G.; Freitas, A. L..; Michaelis, B.; Khouri, H. (1996). "The Self-fulfilling Prophecy in close relationships: rejection sensivity and rejection by romantic partners." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 75, 2, 545-561.
Gautshi, T. (1998). "Expect the worst: employee performance and self-fulfilling prophecies". 53, 12, 210(1).
Hurley, A. E. (1997). "The effects of self-esteem and source credibility on self-denying prophecies". The Journal of Psychology. 131, 6, 581-595.
Hyde, M. B.; Power, D. I. (1996). "Teachers' ratings of the communication abilities of their deaf students". American Annals of the Deaf. 141, 1, 5-11.
Madon, S.; Jussim, L.; Eccles, J. (1997). "In search of the powerful self-fulfilling prophecy". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 72, 4, 791-810.
"Self-fulfilling Prophecy".(November 1998). Available at: wysiwyg://49http://www.mediconsult.com/general/shareware/getting_well/ sf_proph.html
Shrauger, S.; Ram, D. ; Greninger, S. A..; Mariano, E. (1996). "Accuracy of self-predictions versus judgments by knowledgeable others". Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin. 22, 12, 1229-1244.
Sirois, Joseph. (November 1998). Rumford Community Home Administrator. Interview.
Smith, D.M; Newberg, S. C.; Judice, N; Beisanz, J. C. (1997). "Target complicity in the confirmation and disconfirmation of erroneous perceiver expectations: immediate and longer term implications". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 73, 5, 974-992).
Social Psychology. Del Mar, CA. 1974: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company
Steinberg, Laurence. Adolescent Psychology. Boston, MA, (1996): McGraw-Hill Publishing Company.
Thomas, David, L. (1996). "The self-fulfilling prophecy: better management through magic". (How body language communicates expectations). Trusts & Estates. 135, 11, 20-22.Biography of Donna Landry
Home: Mexico, Maine

Donna Landry's Biography

I was born in Waterville, ME on March 29, 1950. The second daughter of four siblings, I was raised in Dixfield, ME. I attended schools in Dixfield and graduated from high school in 1968.

Although I was very young, I married six months after graduation and within four years I had a son and was also divorced. Jobs were scarce and I needed work badly; I decided to take a nurse's aide course. I quickly found a job after taking this course at the local Rumford hospital. I worked there for six years.

During this time, I met and married. My husband had a young son also and we began to plan our life together. A year later another son was born. While my children were growing up, it was necessary that I worked. I found jobs at factories to make ends meet.

After my children were grown, and after working a year as a nurse's aide at the Rumford Community Home, a local nursing home, I decided to go back to school. I thought I would take courses to obtain an associate's degree in social services.

A job as a receptionist became available at the nursing home, I applied for it and got it. Last year, the nursing home decided to convert its Alzheimer/dementia unit from nursing facility to residential care. It was learned that in Residential Care a social worker did not have to be licensed. I was offered the job and gladly accepted.

This job has been a challenge to me. Not only am I a social worker, but also unit manager of sixteen residents and 20 employees. I am in charge of hiring and terminating employees, scheduling, dealing with day to day problems, staying in contact with family members, and ensuring the residents are receiving quality care and that all their needs are being met.

One of my proudest accomplishments so far in this field of work is that our facility has been selected to be a magnet site by the Alzheimer's Association. We were selected based on a proposal which I submitted and also based on interviews with the staff. We were one of five sites selected in the state. By being selected all employees will receive intensive training for caring for the Alzheimer/dementia population and three of our staff, myself included, will go through a "train the trainer" program, go to other facilities and train staff at other facilities.

Something I would like to develop is a day care program for people diagnosed with Alzheimer/dementia to come to our unit, perhaps people already on our waiting list. It would not only benefit the Alzheimer/dementia client to be involved with our activity program, but it would also benefit the families as a type of respite.

I have enrolled in the Behavioral Science program because my goal is to become a Licensed Social Worker. I believe that this program is best suited to me because I am definitely a "people person". I never seem to tire of being around people. I believe that I am a good listener which is a plus, I respond very well in small groups, however I do have a difficult time speaking in larger groups. I work well with people but I do not always feel that I am effective with them. I feel that I need to develop my critical thinking skills and I also need to develop a clearer choice of words when speaking; I tend to be fairly vague. I would also like to take a course in public speaking.
I would like to take some electives dealing with the elderly. Although some courses I have taken have brushed on the subject, there has not been a lot of focus on the elderly.

While I am working with the elderly now and my goal is to become a licensed social worker, I would like to take courses involving mental illness and alcohol abuse.

 

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