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Learned Helplessness/Attribution Theory
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Learned Helplessness and Attribution can be related because certain things that are common knowledge may "explain" why a person acts the way they do and lead them to learned helplessness.
Example: People who are mentally handicapped with things such as autism and dyslexia and are struggling in school may feel that because they have these problems they are helpless. The problem will prevent them from even trying to move forward, leading them to learned helplessness.
Learned Helplessness/Attribution Theory
Jordan Fiorani
How are the two related?
The learned helplessness theory was created by Martin Seligman, an American psychologist.
Seligman and Maier:
Seligman specialized in positive psychology and did his work at Penn State University.
Seligman and Maier did an experiment in 1967 where they divided dogs into three groups. The dogs in groups 2 and 3 were administered shocks and the dogs in group 1 were the control group, so they were never shocked. In group 2 dogs could end the shock by hitting a lever and in group 3 the shock was inevitable.
Next the dogs from all groups were placed in a box and given a shock that they could easily escape by jumping accrossed a barrier. It was found tha the dogs in group 1 and 2 jumped the barrier but the dog in group 3 did not, they had learned helplessness from the inevitable shocks.
Attribution Theory
Learned Helplessness:
Deals with how a person perceives and comes up with an explanation for events.
Bernard Weiner
3 Dimensions of Attribution:
- Locus of Control: internal or external
- Stability
- Control: luck or skill
Learned helplessness is when one is repeatedly exposed to a negative situation/stimulus and they eventually stop trying to escape and exhibit defeated and helpless behavior. This continues even if a chance to escape the situation arises.
Bernard Weiner was a social psychologist who came up with the Attribution Theory to explain academic success and failure. He conducted his work at the University of California where he taught.