Thousands of U.S.banks went out of business in the 1930s as a result of customers withdrawing their deposits because they feared that the banks were running out of money.This is an example of
A) the misapplication of the anchoring and adjustment heuristic.
B) the correspondence bias.
C) a self-fulfilling prophecy.
D) attributional ambiguity.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The scenario described in the question is an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The belief that the banks were running out of money led customers to withdraw their deposits, which in turn cause the banks to actually run out of money and go out of business. Thus, the original belief became true because of the actions it caused.