M Sutapa Lakshmanan 9/12/2010

How many times have you heard, thought, or said:

Why wont they just try harder? I cant achieve my goal She just doesnt want to be helped! Why should someone keep helping me when I dont

try to help myself?

This leads to:

Learned Helplessness
There Is No Justice Ill get a bad deal no matter what I do. No Dream Why work at it; its not going to get any better.

Learned Helplessness
Condition resulting from the perception that we do

not have control over the environment

People in the state of learned helplessness view

problems as
Personal: Internalization of problem(blaming self) Pervasive: Affecting all aspects of life

Permanent: The problem is not going to go away

Martin Seligmans experiments with dogs

Explanatory Style
Way of explaining to ourselves our relative lack of

control over the environment

Optimistic: More likely to have better immune system ,live longer, report less stress and depression, compared to pessimistic Pessimistic

Depression
Association between learned helplessness and

depression
Symptom: Inability to control outcomes Ultimate pessimism: Create explanations about

negative situations into personal and pervasive terms

Attribution Model
We attribute our lack of control or failure to some

cause
Pessimists: Internal, stable and global causes Optimists: External, unstable and specific causes

Development of Learned Helplessness in Childhood

Early interaction with environment will determine

later feelings of control over environment Abuse

Can associate old events with new situations

Attribution of failure made to self rather than the

circumstances Personal helplessness Universal helplessness

Learned helplessness leads to hopelessness

Helplessness can be Unlearned

We can help ourselves and others unlearn helplessness

by gaining control in lives.

By cultivating

Positive Psychology
Deals with happiness, excellence and optimal human

functioning
Concerned with strength as well as weakness Concerned with building the best things in life as in

repairing the worst

Concerned with making the lives of normal people

more fulfilling and nurturing high talent

Migrating from Pessimism to Optimism

ABCDE Model A: Adverse event or situation B: Beliefs about that event(Hear) C: Consequences of those beliefs(Feel) D: Disputation and distraction E: Energization

Six Variables associated with Happy Personality

Repressive defensiveness
Trust Internal Locus of control Resilience Emotional stability and positive affect Self-esteem