A schema is simply a conception or belief regarding a given scenario. They are inescapably standardized and invariably oversimplified preconceptions grounded in previous understandings of the world and our relation to it. They are inescapable because they dictate how we assume most of the world works. In most cases, we are right. To have to painstakingly take the time to relearn everything from every angle possible is not practical or possible. This is why prejudice comes so naturally to humans, and why I would argue is a one of our greatest gifts.
A self-fulfilling prophecy is much more interesting topic. Robert Merton defines it as "a false definition of a situation evoking a new behavior which makes the original false conception come true." Further, “this specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error.” From Robert Merton’s book Social Theory and Social Structure. Examples can be seen readily; from the New Age and relatively groundless ‘Law of Attraction’, to cherry picking and applying biblical fiction to our every day lives after the fact. The reason why this phenomena plagues our otherwise eroding minds is because it is an immensely seductive prospect for us to not have to take full responsibility for our actions, and feeling that we have a ‘personal relationship with a higher being’ increases our perceived significance. What’s really great about self-fulfilling prophecies is that you are rarely ever wrong, and if you are, you probably won’t remember it.
An example would be that positive beliefs predict positive behavior, or vice versa. Put more extensively; ‘your expectations shape your behavior’, which in turn not only influences the way others react to you, but the way that you interpret the world.
“Perception is reality.” Is perhaps the best reconciliation between the two concepts. It is applicable for a couple reasons:
1. Reality is what we perceive it to be, and all we will ever have to go off of. This is a schema.
2. Self fulfilling prophecies occur because of how we choose to predispose ourselves to perceive the world.
What both of these have in common is that the human mind only has so much bandwidth, and by selectively focusing on certain stimuli in the real world, we can come to some outlandish conclusions, especially if we are immature enough to still be afraid of being wrong.
A concrete example of a schema is where Alice believes that praying to God will decrease the chances of her husband getting in a car accident and dying. Thus far, it has perceptibly proven successful given that he has not yet crashed. When he does, she attributes it to her not praying hard enough, it was clearly the work of the devil, or she thinks it is a lesson in some mysterious and indirect way. After all, this is what anyone would have to think in order to maintain what's left of his or her sanity. (See Cognitive Dissonance link above)
A concrete example of a self-fulfilling prophecy is where Alice believes that praying to God will decrease the chances of her second husband getting into a car accident and dying, and consequently feels ‘divinely inspired’ to research the safest cars, minimum traffic hours, enrolls them in a defensive driving course, and compels her husband to wear a helmet while driving at the threat of leaving him. After these precautions are relatively habitual, statistically the chances of Alice’s husband dying in a crash now are less likely than before and survives a their marriage. Alice consequently attributes all this preparation to God’s grace and inspiration rather than the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy since she hasn’t graduated highschool.
For more, much better examples:
