Learned Helplessness

In your orientations, we mentioned the notion of “learned helplessness.” Seligman (1998) defines the latter as follows: “Learned helplessness is the giving-up reaction, the quitting response that follows from the belief that whatever you do doesn’t matter. Explanatory style is the manner in which you habitually explain to yourself why bad or good events happen. It is the great modulator of learned helplessness. An optimistic explanatory style stops helplessness, whereas a pessimistic explanatory style spreads helplessness. Your way of explaining events to yourself determines how helpless you can become, or how energized, when you encounter the everyday setbacks as well as momentous defeats” (p.15).

How is the learned helplessness related to how long students remain engaged in the course? Observe how they explain course setbacks or achievements. Do they explain their bad grades as “permanent, pervasive, and personal?” How about the good grades? Interestingly, the optimistic explanatory style assumes that you explain your failures as temporary, local, and impersonal, whereas successes - as permanent, pervasive, and personal.

On the other hand, can continuously relying on other sources of support promote learned helplessness? Observe how much your students are reliant on you for answers, and “rate” their “helplessness” patterns. As the semester progresses, work on breaking these patterns.

Breaking learned helplessness & developing the optimistic explanatory style go hand in hand with the growth mindset – viewing successes as products of effort vs. ability. Learning that responding matters prevents learned helplessness. In Seligman’s study, dogs that were taught this mastery as puppies were immunized to learned helplessness all their lives. Individuals taught that what you do matters can change their success patterns. 

More on the topic: Seligman M. (1998) Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life.