ABSTRACT

Rosenthal and Jacobson demonstrated that teachers' expectations for their students' academic performance had a significant impact on that performance, and subsequent studies have confirmed the self-fulfilling prophecy potential of expectations based on presumed knowledge about individual capabilities. Other studies suggest that expectations for behavior based on an individual's membership in a particular group can also function as self-fulfilling prophecies. If expectations and job requirements are consistent, the appropriate course of action is relatively straightforward. However, consistency of style with implicit position requirements rather than with the sex-role expectations held by the male subjects was the critical factor. The interviewer's failure to emit verbal or behavioral cues consistent with his supposed attitudes toward women did not deter female applicants from behaving in ways consistent with their expectations of his expectations. Opting for traditionally feminine behavior in ambiguous situations is also dysfunctional in a broader context.