learned helplessness

LEARNED HELPLESSNESS

ILNU, Ahmedabad, India Adimesh Lochan Aditya Shukla Prafull Bhardwaj Prateek Shrivastava Sumit Singh Bhadauriya Utkarsh Jain

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“IF YOU ARE IN A BAD SITUATION YOU WILL DO WHATEVER YOU CAN DO TO

ESCAPE IT”

“IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU AREN’T IN CONTROL OF YOUR SITUATION , YOU WILL

GIVE UP AND ACCEPT WHATEVER SITUATION YOU ARE IN”

INFORMAL DEFINITION

Giving up . Expectations of future non contigency

outcomes no longer depends on actions. BELIEVING it wont matter what I do. BELIEVING I have no control over the

outcome. The belief that your actions are futile. BELIEVING you are incompetent.

Negative ReinforcementNegative reinforcement occur when something already present is removed ( or taken away ) as a result of person’s behavior, thereby creating favourable outcome for that person in future.

EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCES OF LEARNED HELPLESSNESSCLASSIC EXPERIMENT ON DOGS BY MARINE(1969)

EXPLANATORY STYLESExplanatory style is a psychological attribute that indicates how people explain to themselves why they experience a particular event, either positive or negative.Three components in explanatory style:1. Pervasive (global vs. specific)

This involves how one explains the extent of the effects.

2. Permanent (stable vs. unstable)This involves how one explains the extent of the cause.

2. Personal (internal vs. external)This involves how one explains the cause of an event.

BERNARD WEINER'S ATTRIBUTION THEORY (1985-86)

This attribution theory includes the dimensions of

1. GLOBALITY: Cause of a negative event is consistent across different contexts.

SPECIFICITY: Cause of a negative event is unique to a particular situation.2. STABILITY: Cause is consistent across time.

INSTABILITY: Cause is specific to one point in time.3. INTERNALITY: An external attribution assigns causality to situational or external factors

EXTERNALITY: An internal attribution assigns causality to factors within the person.

People who generally tend to blame themselves for negative events, believe that such events will continue

indefinitely, and let such events affect many aspects of their

lives display what is called a pessimistic explanatory style.

Conversely, people who generally tend to blame others for negative events, believe that such events will end soon, and do not let such events affect too many aspects

of their lives display what is called an optimistic explanatory style.

Attributing outcomes to controllable causes such as effort, an internal unstable attribution, would then lead to an active task approach.

Attributing outcomes to uncontrollable situations such as lack of ability, in contrast, would lead to the undesirable causes of learned helplessness (Dweck, 1975).

HEALTH IMPLICATIONS

DEPRESSION

-SADNESS IS NOT DEPRESSION

SYMPTOMS

DECREASE IN APPETITE INSOMNIA OR HYPERINSOMNIA LACK OF ENERGY SUICIDAL THOUGHTS FEELING OF WORTHLESSNESS AND

GUILT

SELIGMAN’S OBSERVATION

CHARACTERISTIC SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION

1. Emotional disturbance- sadness and hopeless outlook towards life.

2. Reluctant to initiate action-characteristics of severe depression

3. Cognitive deficient- difficulty in solving problems or learning learnable things

SOCIAL IMPACT

LEARNED HELPLESSNESS IN SOCIETY

IN THE CLASSROOM- Students who repeatedly fail may conclude that they are

incapable of improving their performance, and this attribution keeps them from trying to succeed, which results in increased helplessness, continued failure, loss of self esteem and other social consequences.

IN CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS- It may be a factor in the development of a victim

mentality in a Child or young adult. By being repeatedly exposed to uncomfortable or painful situations, such as bullying or abuse by their peers, the person may stop trying to cope with painful social situations. This can lead to continued stress, feelings of self-hatred, and maladaptive behaviors such as avoiding all social interactions.

Those who are extremely shy or anxious in social situations may become passive due to feelings of helplessness. Gotlib and Beatty (1985) found that people who cite helplessness in social settings may be viewed poorly by others, which tends to reinforce the passivity.

IN AGING INDIVIDUALS- They may respond with helplessness to the deaths of

friends and family members, the loss of jobs and income, and the development of age-related health problems. This may cause them to neglect their medical care, financial affairs, and other important needs.

WAYS TO OVERCOME LEARNED HELPLESSNESS

BY THE PERSON HIMSELF

BY PSYCHIATRISTS

SELF HELP (BY BRINGING IN THEIR PERONALITY/ATTITUTE)

1. CHANGE IS POSSIBLE2. THINK BIG3. GET PERSPECTIVE4. SET GOALS5. ACHIEVING SUCCESS6. CONSIDER DIFFERENT

POINTVIEW

BY PROFESSIONALS/PSYCHIATRIST

1. USING METAPHORS

2. VIVE LE DIFFERENCE ( DIFFERENCE RULE)

3. ENCOURAGING ACTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING

Thank you