E2a3 Madon (2004) Self fulfilling prophecy and drinking behaviourWHY AND HOW MALDON CONDUCTED THE STUDY

THE FINDINGS IN RELATION TO SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY

AN EVALUATION OF THE STUDY

Aim If parents expectations of children's drinking habits would become a reality.

If parents thought their children would drink a lot of alcohol, would this lead then to drink more?

Procedure Asked 115 children aged between 12 and 13 and their parents.

Parents were asked to guess how much alcohol their child drank or would drink over the coming year.

A year later the children were asked to say how much alcohol they had actually consumed.

Results Children who drank the most alcohol were the ones whose parents had predicted a greater use of alcohol.

It only took one parent to have a negative opinion of their child's drinking habits to show a relationship with hi levels of drinking.

The child seemed at greater risk of higher alcohol use if both parents had a negative beliefs.

Conclusion Parents prediction of their child's alcohol use was very accurate.

Parents expectations were consistent with alcohol use over 12 months.

It could be concluded that this is a self fulfilling prophecy because what the parent expected came true.

This shows the parents beliefs can have a massive influence on the child's behaviour.