2. Fatalism
• argued to be a cognitive phenomenon constituting of specific
beliefs in the individual,
• beliefs may consist of a combination of the following: (a) the
individual’s perceived lack of (internal) control over external events
in his or her life
• notions of fate, luck, destiny and predetermination of a specific
circumstance or set of circumstances
• perceptions of powerlessness, hopelessness, and meaninglessness
due to negative outcomes of specific circumstances
• A given combination of such beliefs could be described as a
fatalistic mind-set.
• The existence of a fatalistic mindset conjures with nihilism as a
social-psychological phenomenon
3. History
• Historically viewed from the perspective of
philosophy, theology and social psychology
• Beliefs about external locus of control
• Beliefs about “chance”
• Specific description by Barbara Powe of a
fatalistic mind-set with regard to the mind-set
of cancer patients.
4. Why the research was done
• argued to be a cognitive phenomenon constituting of specific
beliefs in the individual,
• beliefs may consist of a combination of the following: (a) the
individual’s perceived lack of (internal) control over external events
in his or her life
• notions of fate, luck, destiny and predetermination of a specific
circumstance or set of circumstances
• perceptions of powerlessness, hopelessness, and meaninglessness
due to negative outcomes of specific circumstances
• A given combination of such beliefs could be described as a
fatalistic mind-set.
• The existence of a fatalistic mindset conjures with nihilism as a
social-psychological phenomenon
5. Research Questions
• What are the possible manifestations of
fatalism in adolescents?
• How does fatalism possibly colour their lived
experiences?
• How does adolescent fatalism possibly affect
educational attainment in adolescents?
6. This study
RESEARCH DESIGN
• QUALITATIVE EXPLORATORY
DESIGN
• INTERPRETIVE PARADIGM
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
• SOCIAL-COGNITIVE LEARNING
THEORY
• COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
DATA ANALYSIS
• QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS
DATA COLLECTION
• CREATIVE STRATEGY PHASE
• FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS
• PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
INTEGRATION OF THE DATA
• OPEN AND AXIAL CODING
• THEMES
DISCUSSION OF THE DATA
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS:
• VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION
• PERSONAL/PARENTAL CONSENT OR
ASSENT.
7. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
(B)
BEHAVIOUR
Motor responses
Verbal responses
Social interactions
(P)
PERSON
Cognitive abilities
Physical
characteristics
Beliefs and
attitudes
ENVIRONMENT
Physical
surroundings
Family and Friends
Other social
influences
BANDURA’S MODEL OF RECIPROCAL DETERMINISM
(TRIADIC RECIPROCAL CAUSATION)
8. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
BECK’S HIERARCHY OF COGNITION
Core beliefs
Intermediate beliefs (rules, attitudes and
assumptions)
Situation
Automatic thoughts
Reaction (emotional, behavioural and
psychological)
9. PERCEIVED REALITY / LIVED
EXPERIENCE OF THE
INDIVIDUAL.
(Personal, social and
demographic factors, beliefs,
perceptions about the self and
others)
CORE BELIEFS:
• DETERMINISM
• CHANCE / LUCK
INTERMEDIATE BELIEFS
e.g.:
EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL,
NIHILISM
COGNITION:
application of core and
immediate beliefs to the
perceived reality / lived
experience
FATALISM: result of
interpretation of
perceived reality / lived
experience (inter alia
ANGST)
FATALISTIC RESPONSE:
EMOTIONAL (Angst, etc.)
BEHAVIOURAL (Coping
etc.)
PSYCHOLOGICAL
(Depression etc.)
10. SAMPLE
• Purposive and Convenience sampling
• 164 grade 11 learners from five schools in the
Western Cape
• Schools selected according to the national
quintiles (rated according to the income of the
school population)
11. CREATIVE STRATEGY
• “This T-shirt cries out
for you to fill the empty
space with something
that is so
YOU….something that
tells the world how you
feel about life right
now.”
12. FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS
INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS
• How would you describe the world you live in
today?
• How does your description of the world make
you feel?
• What is it that makes you do things in a
specific way or informs the decisions you
take?
13. FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS EXPLORING RELIGIOUS AND
PHILOSOPHICAL DETERMINISM
• What is it that makes you do things in a specific way or
informs the decisions you take?
• If you agree with the idea that a higher power
determines how your life is going to work out; do you
think that this higher power’s will is stronger than your
will and determines the choices you are going to make?
• What do you feel about the idea that there may be a
larger plan for your life that you cannot go against and
determines how your life will work out?
14. QUESTIONS EXPLORING BELIEF IN FREE WILL OR
CHANCE
• How do you feel about the idea that one is absolutely
free to make one’s own decisions?
• How do you understand the idea that some people
are luckier than others?
• How do you feel about the following statement? I
have an influence on the way my life will turn out.
FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS
15. FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS EXPLORING SOCIAL DETERMINISM
• What do you think about the idea that one can do absolutely as you
please and the opinions and influence of others have no influence in
the choices you make.
• Do you think that your gender influences the choices you are allowed
to make in South Africa?
• Do you think that your race influences the choices that you are allowed
to make in South Africa?
• Do you think that your wealth and social status have an influence on
the choices you are allowed to make?
• which you were brought up with certain customs and traditions
influencing the decisions you are allowed to make?
16. Findings
• Fatalism seems to be a cognitive mind-set,
consisting of a combination of specific beliefs.
• A cognitive mind-set is a specific combination of
beliefs through which the world is interpreted
and according to which behaviour is shaped.
• Fatalistic beliefs can be deterministic, in other
words, they are seen as external influences that
take control away from the individual and render
him/her powerless to affect any change or
improvement.
17. • POSITIVE BELIEFS Life is good
• “Tevrede met dit wat na my kant toe kom” / “Satisfied with what comes
my way” (A4)
• NEGATIVE BELIEFS Life is bad
• “When people put you under pressure you feel that you can’t get
out. Then you would rather do nothing and think: OK, then I’ll just
leave everything” (A7)
• AMBIVALENT BELIEFS Life is confusing /
negative and positive
• “Life is very confusing…I must make decisions and I am scared to
make decisions” (A49)
BELIEFS ABOUT LIFE
18. BELIEFS ABOUT EXTERNAL
INFLUENCES
Beliefs about God and religion
• Beliefs about God’s control over life
• “If God decides that I am going to be [passage unclear] then I am going to
be. It is not that I am lucky”
• Beliefs about a higher power’s predetermined plan
• Beliefs that God has created us with predetermined abilities
and potential
• Beliefs about God as an enabling force in one’s life
• Beliefs about the devil as a disabling force in one’s life
19. BELIEFS ABOUT EXTERNAL
INFLUENCES
Beliefs about the influence of the
environment
• Effect of the economic environment
• “Your environment influences your decisions – your wealth determines
what you are able to do”
• Beliefs of the social environment
• “Sometimes when you are with someone who has a negative
attitude in life, it rubs off on you …you also start to think negatively
because you are in their company”
20. BELIEFS ABOUT EXTERNAL
INFLUENCES
Beliefs about the relations between the self and others
• Influence of peers
• “One cares about someone, then he leaves you because of
something on Facebook and then he makes up shit about you”
• Influence of parents
• “Sometimes life is difficult. I sometimes feel as if I don’t want to live
anymore. Maybe I should commit suicide. My parents make me
struggle with many things. It will be better if I die. I am just in the
way. They only see what I am doing wrong”
• Beliefs of the other as a threat to the self
• Beliefs of the effect of economic injustice on the self
• Beliefs of the effect of racial injustice on the self
• Beliefs of the effect of gender inequality on the self
21. BELIEFS OF SELF-AGENCY
Beliefs about self-efficacy
• Beliefs of freedom of the will within a greater plan.
• Fixed beliefs about own potential
Beliefs about self- efficacy based on perceptions of
others
• Beliefs of self-efficacy based on feedback from others
• “There are bad things that make you to want to give up – if at home you are not
treated well…if your mother keeps telling you that you’ll never succeed…and then
you ask yourself: What am I going to do at school, because my mother already
told me that I am not going to succeed. So I will just sit down and do nothing
22. What are the possible manifestations
of fatalism in adolescents?
• Fatalism stemming from beliefs about the self
• Fatalism emerging from beliefs about the
influence of others
• Fatalism grounded in the physical and social
environments in which adolescents grow up
• Fatalism, as influenced by the psycho-neural
and hormonal processes of adolescents
23. How does fatalism possibly colour
their lived experiences?
• Alienation and disengagement
• Oppositional behaviour
• The creation of feelings of pessimism, anxiety
and depression
• Influencing their educational attainment
24. How does adolescent fatalism possibly
affect educational attainment in
adolescents?
• Fatalistic thinking leading to low levels of
motivation
• Fatalistic thinking as a contributing force in
the phenomenon of adolescents leaving the
educational system due to disciplinary
procedure (oppositional behaviour)
• Fatalism as a social influence on learning
(modelling)
25. REFERENCES
• Bandura, A., Caprara , G. V., Barbaranelli, C., Gerbino, M. & Pastorelli, (2003). Role of Affective
Self-regulatory Efficacy in Diverse Spheres of Psycholsocial Functioning. 74(3), 769-782., pp.
(769-782)
• Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive Therapy. Basics and Beyond. London: The Guilford Press.
• Martin, J. and Sugarman, J. (2002). Agency and Soft Determinism in Psychology. In
Atmanspacher, H. and Bishop, R. (Eds.). (2002). Between Chance And Choice: Interdisciplinary
Perspectives on Determinism. Thorverton: Imprint Academic.
• Ncgobo, D. (1999). Nihilism in Black South Africa: The New South Africa and the Destruction
of the Black Domestic Periphery. In Alternation, 6(1), 138-154. Retrieved from
http://alternation.ukzn.ac.za/docs/06.1/09%20Ngc.pdf.
• Neff J. A, Hoppe S. K. (1993) Race/ethnicity, acculturation, and psychological distress: Fatalism
and religiosity as cultural resources. Journal of Community Psychology. 21(1), 3–20.
• Powe, B. D & Johnson, A. (1995). Fatalism as a Barrier to Cancer Screening Among African-
Americans: Philosophical Perspectives. Journal of Religion and Health, 34(2), 119-126.
• Powe, B. D. & Finnie, R. (2003). Cancer Fatalism: The State of the Science. Cancer nursing,
26(6), 454–465. Philadelphia: Lippencott Williams and Wilkins.
• Powe, B. D. (1994). Fatalism and Participation in Colorectal Cancer Screening among
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