When Belief Creates Reality

It is a basic and an undeniable fact of social life that one form impressions of other people whom they encounter in the day-to-day lives. As a direct result of generations of theory and research on impression formation and person perception, investigators have learned a great deal about the way individuals process information to form beliefs and impressions of other people. Accordingly, there exists considerable knowledge about the antecedents of social beliefs. The practical implications of these reality-constructing consequences of social beliefs are considerable, both at the level of individual lives and at the level of society. This chapter highlights that the processes of social thought are intimately woven into the fabric of social interaction and interpersonal relationships. The events of the lives are very much a reflection of one's beliefs about other people in the social worlds. Finally, it is in this sense that beliefs can and do create reality.