Jackson always felt that he was horrible at any art. Every time he had to choose an elective at school, he chose the one that didn't involve any artistic abilities. Finally, he came to a year in school when he was required to take a drawing course. He told himself right away that he was going to fail the class, so he opted to take it pass-or-fail instead of for a letter grade, so his GPA wouldn't suffer. He rarely spent more than the minimal amount of time on the assignments; sometimes he didn't even complete them at all. In the end, he did fail the course. Jackson's story illustrates a ____________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Jackson's story is an example of a vicious cycle, where his negative beliefs about his artistic abilities led him to put in minimal effort, which in turn resulted in poor performance, reinforcing his original negative beliefs.

Jackson Always Felt That He Was Horrible at Any Art