A '''self-fulfilling prophecy''' is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to [[positive feedback]] between belief and behavior. Although examples of such [[prophecy|prophecies]] can be found in literature as far back as [[ancient Greece]] and [[History of India|ancient India]], it is 20th-century [[sociologist]] [[Robert K. Merton]] who is credited with coining the expression "self-fulfilling prophecy" and formalizing its structure and consequences. In his book ''Social Theory and Social Structure'', Merton gives as a feature of the self-fulfilling prophecy: e.g. when Roxanna falsely believes her marriage will fail, her fears of such failure actually cause the marriage to fail.

A '''self-fulfilling prophecy''' is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to [[positive feedback]] between belief and behavior. Although examples of such [[prophecy|prophecies]] can be found in literature as far back as [[ancient Greece]] and [[History of India|ancient India]], it is 20th-century [[sociologist]] [[Robert K. Merton]] who is credited with coining the expression "self-fulfilling prophecy" and formalizing its structure and consequences. In his book ''Social Theory and Social Structure'', Merton gives as a feature of the self-fulfilling prophecy: e.g. when Roxanna falsely believes her marriage will fail, her fears of such failure actually cause the marriage to fail.