Read the passage and answer the question that follow :

Namita is studying in London. Being an Indian she faces a variety of discriminatory behavior on an everyday basis. For instance, Namita had an Economics examination in the morning. While she was revising her notes outside the exam hall one of her classmates, Jessica commented that, "You are from a country of snake charmers, I do not think advanced Economics concepts are your cup of tea". Namita felt bad and started to think it over. Although she was prepared well for her exam but due to nervousness, she was not able to perform well in the exam and failed. Seeing her result, other students started to call her "Know Nothing Namita'. Some students started bullying other Indian students also without provocation. This instance lead the students of other nationalities to believe that there must be some truth in what everyone says about Indians.

In the above passage, Namita failed due to nervousness arising from Jessica's comment, thus strengthening the existing prejudice. This is an example of ________.

Self-fulfilling

The answer is Self-fulfilling.

In this case, Jessica's stereotype about Indians being bad at Economics led Namita to doubt her own abilities, which in turn caused her to perform poorly in the exam. This then reinforced the stereotype in the minds of other students, leading to further bullying and discrimination.

Self-fulfilling prophecy : In some cases, the group that is the target of prejudice is itself responsible for continuing the prejudice. The target group may behave in ways that justify the prejudice, that is, confirm the negative expectations. For example, if the target group is described as ‘dependent’ and therefore unable to make progress, the members of this target group may actually behave in a way that proves this description to be true. In this way, they strengthen the existing prejudice.