Unintended consequences
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| - | '''Unintended consequences''' are outcomes that are not (or not limited to) what the actor intended in a particular situation. The unintended results may be foreseen or unforeseen, but they should be the logical or likely results of the action. For example, students of history often conjecture that if the [[Treaty of Versailles]] had not imposed such harsh conditions on Germany, [[World War II]] would not have occurred. From this perspective, one might consider the war an unintended consequence of the treaty. | + | In the [[social sciences]], '''unintended consequences''' (sometimes '''unanticipated consequences''' or '''unforeseen consequences''') are [[outcome]]s that are not the ones intended by a purposeful action. The concept has long existed but was named and popularised in the 20th century by American [[sociologist]] [[Robert K. Merton]]. |
| - | One may class unintended consequences into roughly three types: | + | Unintended [[consequence]]s can be roughly grouped into three types: |
| + | * A positive, unexpected benefit (usually referred to as [[luck]], [[serendipity]] or a [[windfall]]). | ||
| + | * A negative, unexpected detriment occurring in addition to the desired effect of the policy (e.g., while [[irrigation]] schemes provide people with water for agriculture, they can increase waterborne diseases that have devastating health effects, such as [[schistosomiasis]]). | ||
| + | * A perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended (when an intended solution makes a problem worse) | ||
| - | * a positive unexpected benefit, usually referred to as [[serendipity]] or a [[wiktionary:windfall|windfall]] | + | ==See also== |
| - | * a negative or a perverse effect, which may be the opposite result of what is intended | + | * [[Boomerang effect (psychology)]] |
| - | * a potential source of problems, according to [[Murphy's Law]] | + | * [[Cobra effect]] |
| + | * [[Relevance paradox]] | ||
| + | * [[Side effect]] | ||
| + | * [[The road to hell is paved with good intentions]] | ||
| - | Discussions of unintended consequences usually refer to the situation of perverse results. This situation often arises because a policy has a [[perverse incentive]] and causes actions contrary to what is desired. | ||
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In the social sciences, unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences) are outcomes that are not the ones intended by a purposeful action. The concept has long existed but was named and popularised in the 20th century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton.
Unintended consequences can be roughly grouped into three types:
- A positive, unexpected benefit (usually referred to as luck, serendipity or a windfall).
- A negative, unexpected detriment occurring in addition to the desired effect of the policy (e.g., while irrigation schemes provide people with water for agriculture, they can increase waterborne diseases that have devastating health effects, such as schistosomiasis).
- A perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended (when an intended solution makes a problem worse)
See also
- Boomerang effect (psychology)
- Cobra effect
- Relevance paradox
- Side effect
- The road to hell is paved with good intentions
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Unintended consequences" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
