Learned Helplessness and Locus of Control PDF

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HELPLESSNESS AND CONTROL

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Learned Helplessness and Locus of Control

Laurentian University PSYC 3806EL 01: Social Psychology Dr. Dotta & Dr. Vares December 4th, 2020

Learned helplessness is a concept that has been defined by a psychologist by the name of

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Martin Seligman. He researched dogs in 1972 where he subjected them to electric shocks. There were two separate groups, dogs that could control the shocks by pressing a lever and dogs who could not control the shocks. The group of dogs who were not able to control the shock stimulus showed the effects of depression and anxiety after some time. When follow-up research was conducted and the dogs were placed in a box with a barrier, the group of dogs who were unable to previously control the shocks did not attempt to escape by jumping over the barrier--this shows that they had learned to be helpless. Each person is thought to have a locus of control, thanks to the discovery made by Rotter in 1966. This determines whether an individual believes that the events that occur to them are within their control or whether they are due to chance or to other stimuli that are not in their control. A locus of control is divided into two different categories: internal locus of control and external locus of control. An internal locus of control is when a person will look inwardly for the cause of the events occurring around them (i.e., “I got good grades because I studied hard.”). An external locus of control is when a person will look outwardly for the cause of the events occurring around them (i.e., “The professor made that exam super hard and that’s why I didn’t do well.”). How do these two concepts relate? Looking at the study done by Hiroto (1974), we can see that both of these concepts are similar because they view reinforcement as an important component. Instead of the traditional look that we previously discussed with the locus of control, Hiroto sees an internal locus of control as understanding reinforcement to be a result of their reactions and to attribute the reinforcement events to their skill and ability. Hiroto sees an external locus of control as understanding reinforcements as separate from their behaviour and to attribute the reinforcement to luck, chance, or other stimuli. Hiroto also states that learned

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helplessness occurs when the response and reinforcement had begun to interfere with the ability to respond in the future. Another key factor to both of these concepts is control. With learned helplessness, the control that we are referring to is organizing the events as unrelated to the responding. When we are talking about control with the internal-external locus of control, we are referring to the perceptions of actual events. What are the hypotheses? According to Hiroto (1974), having a lack of control over reinforcement can cause impairment in many different species over a variety of tasks. It is hypothesized that individuals with an external locus of control will be slower than individuals with an internal locus of control when learning new tasks. In Hiroto’s study, it was predicted that the externals subjected to an inescapable noise would be more likely to become helpless than internals. What were the results of the study? It was shown that both animals and humans had long waiting periods and more escape failures after they had previously completed inescapable aversive events rather than an escapable event or no event beforehand. It is important to note before we look at the results that they may have been skewed due to the escapable and inescapable groups receiving different instructions before entering the event. In regards to the hypothesis regarding having control over reinforcement, this study proved it to be correct. It did so by showing that the group that took part in the inescapable event had greater impairment in escape-avoidance than the other two groups. The other hypothesis about external vs. internal locus of control was also proved to be correct. The external locus of control variable interacted with inescapability and showed greater impairment than the internal locus of control. How can any of this apply to psychopathology? Let’s discuss a subcategory of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)--battered woman syndrome (BWS). Small correction, BWS

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was a subcategory of PTSD in the old diagnostic statistic manual, 4th edition. In the most current edition, the 5th, it is no longer a subcategory, and a woman suffering from symptoms of such would likely be diagnosed with PTSD. But, for the sake of symptomatology and linking all three units together, let’s still consider it a syndrome. According to Redd (2019) and the DSM-IV, BWS is a syndrome affecting persons who have been victimized by repeated spousal abuse. This could be in the form of physical, psychological, or emotional abuse. A person experiencing BWS may be subjected to flashbacks, anger, inability to concentrate, and experience sleep interruptions. They also participate in avoidance behaviours whether they be conscious or unconscious to prevent being reminded of their violent relationship. Using Seligman’s (1972) theory of learned helplessness, we can see that a person will likely stay in an abusive relationship (especially women) because they become dependent upon the dominant abuser. This is because the abuser is constantly threatening them, exhibiting violence, isolating them, and/or intimidating them. According to Redd (2019), there is a cycle of violence that an abuser normally goes through. The first stage is called the tension building. This is where most verbal, emotional, or psychological abuse occurs. Minor battering incidents may also occur in this stage. The second stage is called acute battering. The first stage moves into this stage once the tension builds up to a “breaking-point”. This usually results in extreme violence. The third and final stage is called loving contrition. In this stage, the abuser seeks forgiveness and makes promises not to abuse again. There may be some gift-giving, love showers, affection, etc. This stage also may be short thus restarting the cycle again. As you can imagine, the more the cycle goes on, the more reinforcement the abuser receives. They may retain an attitude of “if I got away with it this many times, what is one more?”. This ties back into Hiroto’s theory about

HELPLESSNESS AND CONTROL reinforcement being a key element in learned helplessness. In another study done by Launius & Lindquist (1988), they examined not only learned helplessness and battered women but also included results on their locus of control. They attribute that women stay in abusive relationships due to their lack of control and ability to halt the abuse and that they tolerate the abuse due to social and sex roles. According to Walker (1979), Repeated batterings, like electrical shocks, diminish the woman’s motivation to respond. She becomes passive. Secondly, her cognitive ability to perceive success is changed. She does not believe her response will result in a favorable outcome, whether or not it might. Walker also suggests that a battered woman’s behaviour may mimic the behaviour exhibited by learned helplessness, such as decreased efficiency in problem-solving and less motivation to initiate problem-solving. Where does the locus of control fit in? Lanius & Lindquist (1988) found that there are two characteristics directly related to battered women and learned helplessness within them: an external locus of control and passivity. The researchers go into more detail about passivity and indicate that their study does not further analyze the locus of control. They state that it would be a great area for future research. What about training? According to Pittman & Pittman (1979), individuals who feel as though they have no control over their situations may have increased levels of anxiety and depression. Using Wortman & Brehm’s (1975) reactance theory, they may have come up with a way to help overcome helplessness. This theory states that if an individual expects to have control then they will be motivated to regain control when it is reduced or threatened. It can be accompanied by aggression and hostility. Individuals with an internal locus of control proved

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that Wortman and Brehm’s theory was correct. Although, when the uncontrollability became extensive, helplessness was still unavoidable. Individuals with an external locus of control showed that when an individual does not expect control they will experience helplessness after a mild occurrence of uncontrollability. This was demonstrated by their performance worsening with an increase in uncontrollability. This shows that only when an individual is expecting to have control, will they fight to keep control. In summation, we can conclude that learned helplessness and a locus of control are similar due to control and reinforcement. Learned helplessness and an external locus of control are more similar than learned helplessness and an internal locus of control. We examined battered woman syndrome and the role of learned helplessness in keeping a woman from leaving an abusive relationship as well as the role of an external locus of control in that situation. And then lastly, we talked about changing an individual’s outlook to help regain some control.

Hiroto, D. S. (1974). Locus of control and learned helplessness. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 102(2), 187-193. doi:10.1037/h0035910 Launius, M. H., & Lindquist, C. U. (1988). Learned helplessness, external locus of control, and

HELPLESSNESS AND CONTROL passivity in battered women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 3(3), 307-318. doi:10.1177/088626088003003004 Pittman, N. L., & Pittman, T. S. (1979). Effects of amount of helplessness training and internalexternal locus of control on mood and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(1), 39-47. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.37.1.39 Redd, N. J. (2019). Learned helplessness and battered woman syndrome. The Encyclopedia of Women and Crime, 1-2. doi:10.1002/9781118929803.ewac0323 Rotter, J. B. (1966). Rotters internal-external control scale. PsycTESTS Dataset. doi:10.1037/t01671-000 Seligman, M. E. (1972). Learned Helplessness. Annual Review of Medicine, 23(1), 407-412. doi:10.1146/annurev.me.23.020172.002203 Walker, L. E. (1979). The battered woman. New York u.a.: Harper and Row. Wortman, C. B., & Brehm, J. W. (1975). Responses to uncontrollable outcomes: An integration of reactance theory and the learned helplessness model. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Volume 8, 277-336. doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60253-1

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