Learned Helplessness; It’s About Control

On top of the machinery we were born with, there are life experiences that have molded how we see the world. Particularly damaging are those experiences from uncontrollable situations that create feelings of helplessness. Psychologists call it learned helplessness. Life experience can teach us to be pessimistic when we have taken steps to control our circumstances, but find our efforts futile. In these situations a person generally resigns themselves to their current unhappy conditions and expects the future to hold more of the same. 

A leading expert in optimism, Martin Seligman (1990) demonstrated in an experiment with dogs how helplessness is learned. One group of dogs were given electric shocks which they could stop by pressing a panel. A second group were given shocks with no way to escape them no matter what they did. A third group was left alone. Later, all the dogs were put in boxes where they received shocks, but which they could escape from if they simply jumped out over a low barrier. The dogs in the first group, who could stop the shocks by pressing the panel, and the dogs in the third group, who received no shock quickly jumped out of their boxes. But the poor dogs who had no way to escape the shocks the first time made no effort to escape this time. They simply lay down and accepted their unhappy fate even though they could have easily jumped out (Seligman, 1990).

Similar results were found in humans in later experiments by Seligman’s colleague, Donald Hiroto. One group of people were subjected to an annoyingly loud noise (dubstep would work here) without any way to turn it off. A second group learned they could stop the noise by pressing the right combination of buttons. A third group heard no noise at all. Later all the people were subjected to a noise that could be turned off simply by moving their hand. Most of the people who experienced the inescapable noise the first time around just sat there and didn’t attempt to stop it. All the others learned to turn it off quite easily (Seligman, 1990).

What these studies boil down to is that some life experiences, those that give you no power to improve poor circumstances, sap hope and send you on a pessimistic downward spiral. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy—believing you’re powerless, you shy away from opportunities to change and dream smaller dreams, which strengthens your feeling of powerlessness. Seligman writes, “Our thoughts are not merely reactions to events; they change what ensues. For example, if we think we are helpless to make a difference in what our children become, we will be paralyzed when dealing with this facet of our lives. The very thought, 'Nothing I do matters,' prevents us from acting"⁸

Maybe you’ve had a significant person in your life who you couldn’t seem to please no matter what you did. Maybe you’ve tried several times to lose weight, haven’t been successful, and have now given up your efforts. Maybe you don’t vote anymore because your candidate didn’t win in previous elections and now don’t think your tally will matter. If you have a hard time trying again after disappointing results, know that your mind’s tendency to give up is normal, but it doesn’t need to stay that way.

Thankfully, hopelessness can also be unlearned. Seligman eventually physically dragged the helpless dogs over the partition until they too learned that they could jump out on their own. Especially encouraging is a notable finding from Hiroto’s experiments; about one third of the people whom he tried to make helpless didn’t succumb. No matter what happened they would not become helpless. Their inner sense of control was somehow immune to external circumstances. These were the optimists - the Chris Gardners. Seligman was determined to find out why.