On Friday, I wrote about internal and external locus of control, and today I will continue weaving that research into the research, mostly by Dr. Martin Seligman, on learned helplessness and learned optimism.
It is not surprising to consider that many people, amidst the pandemic and civil unrest that rock our world, are feeling a strong sense of helplessness: A feeling that there is nothing we can do to change what is happening around us. In some ways, that may be rather true. We cannot control what other people do to impact the pandemic or the civil unrest. But, we can control how we respond to these circumstances, and how we respond to others' responses to these same circumstances. That is the foundation of internal locus of control, right?
That feeling of helplessness in our current circumstance is different than the concept of learned helplessness, however. Fortunately. Learned helplessness is a prolonged perspective of helplessness or powerlessness that permeates all areas of life, for those who experience it. As the name suggests, this type of helplessness is learned. It is typically the result of either a traumatic event, or most likely, persistent failure to succeed. It is likely to be learned vicariously by watching another person, such as a parent, practice this powerlessness, or learned as the result of an environment in which your power is stripped from you, typically by another person (partner, parent, or on a grander scale, an authority figure like a teacher or political figure). This sense of powerlessness is thought to be an underlying factor in many cases of depression.
The good news is that learned helplessness can be UNlearned! The opposite of learned helplessness is learned optimism, which is a perspective or attitude that you can teach yourself to embrace, with time and practice.
You may already have figured out that learned helplessness is rooted in an external locus of control: a feeling that no matter what you do, other people or circumstances outside of your control rule. Similarly, learned optimism is rooted in an internal locus of control (with a healthy recognition of those contexts where or when external forces do have influence).
Another element to add to learned helplessness or learned optimism, aside from external/internal locus of control is explanatory style.
Explanatory style is our tendency to view events through a predominantly optimistic or pessimistic perspective. There are three aspects of explanatory style: personal, permanence, and pervasiveness. The personal aspect is the internal/external locus of control element. If you perceive a personal, internal locus of control over a situation, you are likely to have a more optimistic perspective, while an external locus of control suggests a more pessimistic perspective (I can't do anything about this awful situation.)
The level of perceived permanence also determines if you are optimistic. If you perceive the current circumstance as short term, or one time occurrence. For instance, as a student, if you did not do well on a test and you think: "I didn't study very well for this test", then you are likely to be optimistic that you can change this. On the other hand, if you perceive the permanence of the situation as long term or ongoing, then you are likely to be more pessimistic about your ability to change the situation. Like the example for the short term perspective, a person with a more long term perception is likely to say "I am never good at tests."
Finally, the pervasiveness of the circumstance also determines, or influences, whether you are likely to feel rather optimistic or pessimistic about the situation. This is also referred to as 'global' or or 'local or specific'. For instance, a global attitude after a negative interaction with another person might be: "All people are mean/selfish, etc.". A more local or specific response might be: "This person was not very nice, but I have had many interactions with other humans that are very positive. People, generally, or good."
To summarize, a more pessimistic explanatory style is related to external locus of control, and a permanent and global perspective about negative events. It also sounds pretty depressing. It is, indeed, related to depressive symptoms and clinical depression in some cases. This is a learned helplessness attitude, which, as you now have figured out, is LEARNED.
Alternatively, a more optimistic explanatory style is related to internal locus of control, short term (not permanent) and local or specific perspective about negative events. It is much more optimistic, of course, and allows us to perceive a level of control over changing the circumstances. It sounds a lot like HOPE. Who wouldn't want this sort of approach, right? Well, there are some reasons why the learned helplessness strategy would be continued, but we won't get into that here. Just know that learned optimism is something you can practice, and you can 'learn', if you find yourself as more of the pessimistic perspective.
For positive events, the explanations are reversed. See this table below for a summary:
This table is from https://positivepsychology.com
How do we learn to be more optimistic, especially when times are difficult and prolonged? Well, it takes some practice, but you can do it. It is really about become more aware of our thoughts and attitudes. When you start to think pessimistically about a situation, stop and think about your attitude. Ask yourself: is this in my control or out of my control, really? Is this a one time, short term issue, or this is a long term, more permanent situation? Is this a global issue, or is it more specific to this particular context? This requires some time to honestly assess the situation you are in before moving on to a more optimistic way of thinking.
For our own well-being, we want to be able to honestly say that bad things that are outside of our control are short term, and local or specific issues, and that good things are the result of internal processes (attitude, thoughts, or actions), are representative of a long term approach to life, and that they are likely to continue to be that way (pervasive). This way, we can say we are hopeful that bad things happen rarely, and good things happen often, and that we have some control over that! :) We can pat ourselves on the back for our role in the good stuff, honestly, and also, honestly, say that bad things are changeable or short lived, and not really our fault. Okay, yes, sometimes we make bad decisions, or behave badly, and it IS our fault, but when that happens, hopefully we can honestly say it is short lived and not a reflection of our general demeanor, behavioral choices, or thought processes.
So, carry on with a more optimistic explanatory style. We might be living through a very difficult, and rather prolonged, circumstance right now, but we can own our choices and behaviors during this time, and remind ourselves that we WILL get through this, there will be resolution to both the virus and the civil unrest, and that these terrible circumstances are not representative of the entire world or of time eternal. Got it? Okay! HOPE wins!
Take care. Be well and safe!
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