A self-fulfilling prophecy is a social psychological phenomenon where the tendency of people to respond to and act on the basis of stereotypes, expectations, or predictions about themselves or others ultimately leads to the validation or confirmation of those initially false definitions or beliefs. In other words, a belief or expectation, whether accurate or not, can influence behaviour in such a way that it makes the originally false belief come true. For example, if a teacher believes that certain students are less capable, they may treat those students in a way that inadvertently hinders their learning and confirms the initial low expectations. Similarly, if a person is labeled as deviant, they may begin to act in ways that are consistent with that label due to the way others treat them and their own internalisation of the label.