Reformulation of learned helplessness: Attribution

#learnedhelplessness #attribution #learning
   • Learned helplessness theory  

Based on: Sarafino, Smith. “Health psychology” Biopsychosocial interactions, Wiley, 2022. pp. 91

Transcript:
Hey yesterday we talked a bit about Learned helplessness theory, you can find the link in the description and like I said there are some issues with the theory so in 1978 Seligman and his colleagues reformulated the idea of learned helplessness to explain two important things. First, when facing uncontrollable negative events it doesn't always result in learned helplessness. Second, depressed people often say they lose self-esteem. So the reformulated theory suggests that when people deal with uncontrollable negative events, they use a thinking process called attribution.
First we have
Internal-External:

So think if the problem is because of your own abilities or things beyond your control.
For example: A boy getting treatment for a serious injury might feel he's not getting better because he's not strong enough or because the treatment plan isn't right. If he blames himself, he might lose confidence, but if he thinks it's because of the treatment plan, he might not.

Stable-Unstable:

Figure out if the problem is going to last a long time or if it's temporary.
Example: If someone believes a health issue will stick around for a long time, like a chronic disease, they might feel more hopeless and sad compared to thinking it's just a temporary problem.

Finally we have:
Global-Specific:

Consider whether the issue has big, widespread effects or if it's specific to a certain area.
Example: If someone fails to quit smoking and thinks, "I'm just not good at anything, I have no willpower," they might feel really down. But if they think, "I struggle with controlling this part of my life," it's more focused, and they might not feel as helpless.

So people who often attribute stable and global causes for the negative events in their lives are more likely to feel helpless and depressed. If they also think the problems are internal, it can lead to a loss of self-esteem.