PSYC1030 - Essay - Alexander Rutherford 3134487

Explain what is meant by Learned Helplessness and

evaluate evidence which suggests depression may be a
learned reaction to stressful life events which seem
inescapable.
Learned helplessness is a term used to describe the mental state which
arises when an organism is presented with an inescapable adverse stimuli
and then becomes unwilling or unable to take control over subsequent
adverse stimuli. Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect
that seemingly inescapable stressful life events have upon an individual's
well-being, particularly in inducing or exacerbating symptoms of clinical
depression and other related mental illnesses.
This concept of learned helplessness was first suggested by Martin
Seligman in 1965 when he discovered that dogs exposed to an
inescapable electric shock would quickly learn that they had no control
over the situation and cease any attempts to escape the situation. Then
when the same dog was presented with an electric shock from which they
could escape, the dog didn't attempt to escape and instead gave in to the
electric shocks. Seligman and Maier determined that this occurred as the
dog learned that attempting to respond to the electric shocks was futile,
and therefore expected responding to shocks in the future would also be
futile (Maier and Seligman, 1967).
Further studies were then conducted in order to establish whether a
similar principal applied within humans. In one experiment a number of
people were required to complete a series of mental tasks whilst

PSYC1030 - Essay - Alexander Rutherford 3134487

distracting noises were being played out loud (Hiroto & Seligman, 1975).
In this study it was shown that by merely being given the option to turn off
the distracting sounds, the individuals performed far greater in the mental
tasks than those who did not have the option to turn of the sounds,
demonstrating the effects of feelings of helplessness upon cognitive
function.
Based on these findings, they proposed the learned helplessness theory
which suggests that depression and other related mental illnesses may
arise as a result of a perceived lack of control over adverse life events.
The premise of this theory is that organisms, and more particularly
humans, will form expectations regarding the outcomes of their actions,
and thus when presented with a situation where there is independence
between the outcome and their responses they will succumb to feelings of
helplessness.
An important aspect of learned helplessness relates to attributions, which
describes the factors which an individual blames as having caused an
outcome. The variation among individuals in the way in which they
attribute the causes of an outcomes is a primary factoring in determining
the individual's ability to cope with negative outcomes. The attribution
theory defines the various methods of attribution as internal/external,
global/specific and stable/instable. Internal attribution is when the
individual relates the cause of the outcome to internal factors, as opposed
to external attribution where the factors are external. Individuals who
display symptoms of helplessness are more likely to attribute internal

PSYC1030 - Essay - Alexander Rutherford 3134487

factors as the cause of an event, blaming themselves for the negative

outcome. Specific attribution is when an individual believes that the cause
of the outcome is specific to that situation, whilst the global attribution is
when the cause is believed to cover other contexts. Global attribution is a
characteristic of individuals displaying symptoms of hopelessness, as they
believe that the cause of the negative outcome in the initial situation
would also result in negative outcomes in subsequent, independent
situations. Stable attribution is used to describe the mindset where an
individual believes that the cause of the outcome is consistent over time
and cannot be changed or improved. Alternatively, instable attribution is
when the individual believes that the cause only pertains to that specific
point in time, and can be changed or improved upon over time in order to
avoid the previous outcome. A stable attribution mindset is commonly
associated with feelings of helplessness as the individual believes that as
a negative outcome has been reached previously, they will continue to be
reached in the future as a result of the same causing factors. The
combination of the above attribution styles within an individual are very
important in determining whether an individual is susceptible to
symptoms of helplessness in the event of an inescapable negative life
event.
Subsequent studies conducted by Seligman demonstrated the generality
of learned helplessness, demonstrating cases where the effects of the
learned reaction extended past the specific circumstances from which
they were developed. This finding shows the potential for a specific
inescapable event to induce a generalised feeling helplessness within an

PSYC1030 - Essay - Alexander Rutherford 3134487

individual, as the apparent lack of control extends beyond the original

event. (Hiroto and Seligman, 1975). The effects of personal control upon
an individual's well being have been studied, showing that individuals who
have a low level of perceived personal control upon their own outcomes
have a far greater chance of suffering from clinical depression, anxiety
and other related mental illnesses. On an individual level, the importance
of the variation of reactions among individuals in determining the impact
of learned helplessness has been demonstrated. (Peterson, Colvin & Lin,
1992).
Clinical depression is a mental disorder characterised by persistent
negative moods, lack of self esteem and lack of interest in previously
enjoyable experiences. Symptoms of depression have been shown to
occur as a reaction to stressful life events, such as the death of close
friends or family (Wagner, Compas & Howell, 1988). A hopelessness
theory of depression has been proposed, suggesting a subtype of
depression which stems from feelings of hopelessness and/or
helplessness, particularly as a result of an initial uncontrollable negative
event (Abramson, Alloy & Metalsky, 1989.) It was shown that individuals
whom possessed negative attribution characteristics were more likely to
develop symptoms of depression when faced with stressful life events.
The symptoms of depression seen in this case stemmed from feelings of
helplessness towards the situation, where the individuals developed a
perceived lack of control extending beyond the original event. The
symptoms of hopelessness depression have been stated to include
"retarded initiation of voluntary responses, apathy, lack of energy, and

PSYC1030 - Essay - Alexander Rutherford 3134487

psychomotor retardation, among others" (Joiner et al., 2001). Individuals

displaying high levels of hopelessness have been shown to display
symptoms of depression which differ from those shown by individuals with
low levels of hopelessness (Whisman, Miller, Norman & Keitner, 1995).
This finding has been mirrored by Alloy, Just & Panzarella, (1997), where
they found that individuals with high levels of hopelessness displayed a
significantly higher level of hopelessness depressive symptoms than other
commonly displayed depressive symptoms.
The above evidence seems to indicated that hopelessness and/or
helplessness can be a significant factor in determining whether an
individual is susceptible to depressive symptoms. In particular, their
susceptibility to displaying depressive symptoms following a inescapable
negative event depends greatly upon the individuals own feelings of
helplessness. Upon being presented with a stressful life event, the
individuals attribution characteristics play a large role in determining the
extent to which the individual will be affected emotionally by the
experience. An individual who attributes negative results to their global,
internal and stable factors are far more likely to feel powerless in the face
of inescapable negative life experiences. However an individual who does
not possess these negative attribution characteristics will be less likely to
carry those feelings of helplessness into other aspects of their life.
The concept of learned helplessness then attempts to explain the process
by which an individual susceptible to these feelings of helplessness will
begin to carry the helpless state of mind away from the specific negative

PSYC1030 - Essay - Alexander Rutherford 3134487

event, and into other events which they have the capability of escaping.
Feelings of helplessness, pessimism and hopelessness are all primary
symptoms associated with depression, and are all symptoms which seem
to be able to stem from a learned helplessness. In the case of depression
arising from feelings of helplessness, once an individual has the belief that
nothing he/she does can make a difference to the outcome of certain
events, then the individual will show a decrease in "incentive for emitting
active instrumental responses" (Abramson, Alloy & Metalsky, 1989;
Metalsky et al. 1982).
More recent studies provide further positive evidence regarding the
relationship between an individuals' perceived lack of control over certain
events and their levels of stress, and subsequently the onset of depressive
symptoms (Henry, 2005).
In conclusion, learned helplessness seems to be a major contributing
factor in the onset of depressive symptoms within certain individuals,
particularly following an inescapable, stressful life event. The reaction of
an individual following an stressful life experience depends on number of
factors, most importantly the attribution characteristics of the individual.
The evidence suggests that an individual with a negative attribution
characteristics is far more likely to carry their feelings of helplessness
away from the initial event and onto subsequent independent events,
enabling a perceived lack of control which is likely to develop into
depressive symptoms. Therefore the evidence suggests that depression

PSYC1030 - Essay - Alexander Rutherford 3134487

can be a learned response occurring as a result of a seemingly

inescapable stressful life event.

PSYC1030 - Essay - Alexander Rutherford 3134487

References
Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G. I., & Alloy, L. B. (1989). Hopelessness
depression: A theory-based subtype of depression. Psychological Review,
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Alloy, L.B, Just N., Panzarella, C. (1997). Attributional style, daily life
events, and hopelessness depression: Subtype validation by prospective
variability and specificity of symptoms Cognitive Therapy and Research,
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Henry, P.C. (2005). Life stress, explanatory style, hopelessness, and
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Hiroto, D. S., & Seligman, M. P. (1975). Generality of Learned Helplessness
in Man. Journal Of Personality & Social Psychology, 31(2), 311-327.
Joiner, T.E., Steer, R.A., Abramson, L.Y., Alloy, L.B., Metalsky, G.I., Schmidt,
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C. R. (1982). Attributional styles and life events in the classroom:
Vulnerability and invulnerability to depressive mood reactions. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 612-617.

PSYC1030 - Essay - Alexander Rutherford 3134487

Peterson, C., Colvin, D., & Lin, E. H. (1992). Explanatory Style and
Helplessness. Social Behavior & Personality: An International
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