The Perception of Failure

Within The Hopelessness Theory of Depression (HTD; Abraham, Metalsky, and Alloy, 1989) there are two important factors that may increase the chances of depression development in an individual. The first, is a vulnerable person. The second, is negative environmental circumstances (Gruman, Shneider, and Coutts, 2017, p. 109). 

What then, makes a person vulnerable? 

The way one interprets information is important. The individual negatively interprets situations in their life. This is deemed the “pessimistic explanatory style”, this negative interpretation style may be explained by the learned helplessness model of depression which basically states people give up after a while of attempting to better the situation if they perceive to repeatedly fail (Gruman, et al., 2017, p. 108).

The Hopelessness Theory of Depression can give us insight into the why, but also can guide us in the development of future interventions. If an individual can challenge and prove these thoughts wrong, it may empower them to make additional challenges to other thoughts they had held to be true but are in fact not.

Socially, learned helplessness could be discussed with regards to climate change, recycling, environmental issues and the like as well. People may believe that their actions to recycle or reduce energy consumption are futile which may lead to a reduction in the beneficial actions around the environment.

References:

Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G. I., & Alloy, L. B. (1989). Hopelessness depression: A theory-based subtype of depression. Psychological Review, 96(2), 358–372. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.96.2.358

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE.

Mac Giollabhui, N., Hamilton, J. L., Nielsen, J., Connolly, S. L., Stange, J. P., Varga, S., Burdette, E., Olino, T. M., Abramson, L. Y., & Alloy, L. B. (2018). Negative cognitive style interacts with negative life events to predict first onset of a major depressive episode in adolescence via hopelessness. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000301

1 comment

  1. Learned helplessness can be a difficult cycle to break. In regards to the environment, sometimes it doesn’t feel like you can make any substantial change in an age of science denial. I wonder what actions could be taken to change the public’s view on recycling that will lead to individual change. What can someone do to see more instant gratification when working to fix the environment? As this could change the feeling of helplessness a little at a time. A common thought people have is why even bother when everyone else is already doing it? It is true one person doesn’t produce much change on a grand scale; However, an effort by the collective is needed to make actual change.

    It could be interesting to analyze learned helplessness on an age scale. When you are younger it is easier to change a perspective and therefore, break the cycle of helplessness. However, once you are older, learned habits are more deeply rooted and harder to break. Focus on this issue during someone’s younger years would have the biggest impact on the overall issue. Studies show that the way a person thinks can actually change their neural circuitry. People have a great deal of power over their own brain, which wasn’t previously thought. (Maier & Seligman) If someone believes bad events are inevitable and can’t be controlled in the future they will continue the cycle of learned helplessness. Within the theory of explanatory style, “hope” is the greatest natural defense against learned helplessness. If people believe future events are not permanent and they have some control they change their response to the event from a neurological standpoint. It is believed that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex-dorsal circuit is responsible for the feelings of hope and changes structure when someone feels hopeful. Learned helplessness doesn’t have to be permanent and anyone at any age can break the neural pathways. The older you get however, the more difficult it is to change.

    Maier, S. F., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2016). Learned helplessness at fifty: Insights from neuroscience. Psychological Review, 123(4), 349-367. doi:10.1037/rev0000033

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