Search Results for: label/self-fulfilling prophecy

Attitudes or Actions? Which Comes First?

Next time you’re in a group setting take a vote by show of hands. Ask who thinks attitudes precede actions and who thinks actions precede attitudes. A number of people will grumble if you lay down the law and insist that they can only vote for one; nothing in the middle.

But my informal polling through the years indicates most people think attitudes precede actions, by significant margin. And why not? It just makes sense that our outer lives will be an expression of what’s inside us. I couldn’t agree more – other than when I disagree.

So I have to admit, the non-commits are probably right. Sometimes attitudes precede actions, but often actions precede attitudes.

Want to help a teen feel compassion? You can teach all the principles of generosity until you are blue in the face with little result, but take that same young person on a mission trip and he or she will come home feeling compassionate. Want to get excited about losing weight? Don’t read another diet article. Just lose a few pounds and you’ll tell everyone you know more than they ever wanted to know – and maybe more than you’ve actually figured out yourself – about your eating and exercise habits. Yep. No question. Action precedes attitude.

But there are too many exceptions to make a hard and fast rule on the topic. In 1968 Robert Rosenthal of Harvard published Pygmalion in the Classroom, the legendary study that showed how teacher expectations positively or negatively impacted student achievement – the law of self-fulfilling prophecy where attitude goes before action.

So what comes first in the state of the US economy today? Do fundamental metrics change, causing investor, business, and consumer confidence to lift and turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy that drives growth? Or does the negative news cycle spin, which many are complaining is compounding problems, have to change before investors, businesses, and consumers break free from the current inertia? Will attitude or action come first in turning our economy around?

These questions can apply to morality … patriotism … service … marriage relationships … happiness … and the list can go on and on.

I’d ask for a show of hands but I’m not sure how I’ll vote myself. And your vote my change my attitude for me!