The act of being so convinced that your worst
fear is going to come true that you force it to become true, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Common Examples:
*
people who are so afraid they are going to be dumped, they dump their
boyfriend/girlfriend/ spouse as a precautionary measure.
*companies who are in financial trouble who's managers run the company into the ground through their lame attempts to prevent the company from failing;
*an employee who underperforms and gets fired;
Suzie: So, Lisa, how is it going with Ted?
Lisa: Oh, I dumped him last week.
Suzie: But it seemed like things were going so
well!
Lisa: Na, I felt like he was going to end it with me so I dumped him first.
Suzie: That's like the third
guy you have dumped in the past few months!
Lisa: Yeah but nobody wants to be with me, anyway!
Suzie: Sounds to me like you have mastered Paranoid Self Fulfillment!
-See also (offensive rebound)
CEO: Staff, sales are down so we need to determine how to save the company.
Employee 1:
Well first off we should reduce our commitment to quality customer service and customer satisfaction.
Employee 2: I also think we should put some serious pressure on our
top sales performers to bring us more business, and make it clear to them if they don't we
will show them the door.
Employee 3: It would also be
good if we skimp on our ingredients and aren't so quality control oriented.
CEO: Great ideas, everyone!
Janitor: These guys are on their way to paranoid self fulfillment!