Learned Helplessness in the Workplace

Running Head larn failing in the Workplace Paper learn Helplessness in the Workplace psychology 320 November 22, 2010 Professor Sprinkle Abstract In the late 1960s and too soon 1970s Mr. Martin Seligman began to study what effects surroundings bemuse on non only animals, only human beings. His studies were an assay to image what ramifications foreign influences could take hold on a live beings motivation and engage for conquest. He started his studies by giving rats electric shocks.They were inadvertent and with out(p) cause, and this was so the rats had no way of cerebrate what could cause or prevent the shocks, and how to avoid them. What he put, was that at last the rats would crumble up on trying to avoid or escape the shocks. Seligman eventually applied these studies to human infants and what he discovered was a guess he deemed, Learned Helplessness. Learned Helplessness in the Workplace When Martin Seligman chose to study human infants and the effects of o utside influences, he wanted to determine whether a need of control over single(a)s surroundings could lead to a lack in motivation.What he imbed was that gloss over like the rats, humans would learn t open servicelessness, and hence the reason his theory is known as the Learned Helplessness possibility. In short, the theory states that with no control over ones surroundings, the response impart be helplessness. He also found that those who learn this volition stool an interference with the rest of their development. They may have emotional problems along with anxiety and depression as adults. One of the ship washstandal that Seligman commitd children wise(p) helplessness was if in that respect was no correlation amidst actions and there outcome.Just like the rats who act to escape but where still punished with shocks, they mat that no study what they did the outcome would be the same. Children who had parents with poor parenting skills or who didnt recognize the ir successes, learned that no field of study what they did, it didnt diversify the outcome. Kids who struggled in school may begin to fail repeatedly as they would belief that even if they did try, they would fail. People who have learned helplessness suffer from outset self-esteem, and t reverse to blame themselves for everythingWhile studying learned helplessness in humans, Seligman found that it also can be associated with different ways of persuasion almost the events that form mortals instructive course. Seligman believed there were one-third major components of explanatory style associated with learned helplessness. He termed those as permanence, pervasiveness, and personalization. Permanence pertained to the idea that no matter what happens or the events booster cable up to them, the outcomes were in fact permanent. Pervasiveness referred to the thought that if something negatively charged happened in one situation it would happen in other situations as well.For i nstance if a person struggles with math, they then assume they are dopy and struggle in every aspect. Personalization, the third and final component of explanatory style, refers to whether one leave behind attribute negative events to their own flaws or to outside circumstances or other people. Most people with Learned Helplessness will attribute everything to their own flaws or shortcomings. Seligman believes in order to help a person overcome Learned Helplessness they must progress to to Learn Optimism.He believes parents and others who celebrate young kids mastery of naked as a jaybird subjects can lead to optimism as well as their own attitudes toward life-time. In my own position as a business owner, I believe I have employed a young fair sex and possibly a few others with who had learned helplessness. There is one young woman in particular who suffermed to struggle with the struggles Seligman outlined in his theory. I felt a daily battle in trying to convince her she c ould throw her life and the outcomes of the events in her life if she became motivated.When I bought my health club cassie was the young woman who was the receptionist at the front desk. What I quickly learned was that sweet wattle had two drug addicted parents who had spent her entire life beating each other up, a father who was in and out of jail who tried to use her to get drugs, and a mother who tried to get her to do drugs with her. I quickly recognized in fire tree the ability to be different than her upbringing, but I couldnt see a desire from her to get there. She had an inner voice that told her she never could be successful, as mediocrity was all she felt she deserved.I reinforceed her for her work in attempt to motivate her, but it seemed no matter what promotion or reward I offered I couldnt get her motivated to make changes in her life. She would come to work on time, and do what was asked of her, but I never saw either motivation to evidence above and excel to t he beside level, even though I could see she was naturally intelligent and fit of many things. I felt for broad-leaved bottletree as I am not sure she ever had a chance given her parents, but I couldnt change her as I so wished I could.No amount of positive praise or reward could convince Cassie that she could change her life, even though her intelligence was high and her ability was great. She just didnt believe it was possible. I tried for four years to be a role model for Cassie, and there were many days when I thought she was making the choices to change her life, but she never followed through as she really believed change for her was impossible. Cassie had tried for her entire youth rise above both her parents, but eventually she felt no matter what she did the end was inevitable.Its as if she predetermined her future by thinking it was going to be the worst future possible. In the end it seems she evaluate if she couldnt beat her parents, she should join them. I tried ver y badly to be a positive impact for Cassie and help change her life, but the damage that she had incurred seemed to be too great. No matter what I did, she couldnt become an optimist or change the way she felt or so the outside influences in her life. No matter how hard I further or pushed her in a positive direction, she always wound up posterior on the bottom because she very believed that is where she belonged.I a good deal think roughly her and wonder if there is anything else I could have done to help her quail out of her life and into one she was worthy up, but in the end I think that she couldnt change her way of thinking and truly believed the type of life she had was meant to be permanent. She is living somewhere now in a rundown apartment off of welfare with her young fille who I believe will turn out exactly like her. She has no job because she doesnt want to lose her food stamps and welfare, and she is back on drugs.My only hope in life is that some proboscis wi ll be able to walk into her life and tell her daughter that she is smart, and sufficient of so much in life. I have learned from Cassie the value of celebrating a childs little successes, and encouraging them to be something in life. Its sad, but Cassies case of Learned Helplessness has taught me about promoting optimism, and I plan on spreading it to any children I come in contact with. References Learned Helplessness (2001) encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence. Retrieved at http//findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_g2602/is_0003/ai_2602000349/ possible action Name Major Theorist(s) judgment of conviction Period Created Key Theory Concepts First Grand Theory provide Socrates, Plato and Descartes Ancient Greeks and 17th-18th centuries Socrates and Plato literally broke down the concept into mind and body. judgement over matter. According to Plato there was a way to keep body in check. This could be accomplished by the will. In other course the will was in control of all aspec ts of intention both embodied needs and that which would be considered spiritual. Descartes was confident(p) that motivation was the will. He believed that the will was in charge of whether to act or not to act.Bodily needs pleasures, pain, impulses were just mode to an end. Will had the ultimate say. He and other philosophers at the time were convinced that they had the answer. In the end the will turned out to be something of a mystery. In dealing with just the will to explain motivation, it just turn out to be a purpose and it was not universal in its theory because some people had more willpower than others. Second Grand Theory Instinct DarwinWilliam throngMcDougall 19th-twentieth Century Darwins thoughts were dealing with the biology of mankind.His theory is still being dealt with today. Religions and scientists still trying to prove or disprove his theory. His primary(prenominal) distinction was between animals and humans. Darwin took away the idea of will when he was abl e to show that animals were able to use their resources (motivation) to adapt to like humans. So in this sense the will was no longer an explanation of motivated behavior. James theory consisted of introducing stimulus into the picture. Reflex and inherent aptitudes is what makes human motivation. McDougall took the research on a generation after Darwin.Once researchers embraced this idea the next thing to do was to see the instincts. This became a daunting task. On top of that the instinct theory was open(a) as circular. In other words, instinct theory failed because theorists were unable to determine if instincts really exist. Third Grand Theory Drive Sigmund Freud Robert Woodworth Clark Hull 20th Century Freud, all behaviors were satisfying needs. Behavior serves bodily needs and pose acted as a guard or middleman to ensure that behaviors occurred when necessary for comfort of the body. Satisfaction of the bodily need quieted drive.Freuds theory was upset due to three fact ors (1) overestimation of biological forces (2) overreliance on data interpreted from case studies of mentally ill individuals and (3) ideas that were not scientifically testable. Hulls drive theory did had one thing the other will and instinct did not have and that was ventureion. Drive came from environmental conditioning which marked the begin of scientific study of motivation. If the answer to the environmental question could be answered as to the motivation created then, one would be able to manipulate or predict motivational states in the laboratory.Eventually though drive met its fate too. It was clear that drive reduction was neither necessary nor sufficient for learning to occur. Robert Woodworth responsible for the so called dynamic interactional metaphor of nature vs. nurture. He saw the intrinsic task of psychological investigation as the give and take between the organisms mentality and the requirements of its physical and social existence. According to the scientifi c world of the 21st century these thoughts are holding the discipline back. object view Locke Late 1960s Mini-theories represented attempts by researchers and theorists to focus on more and more item aspects of behavior rather than to account for wholly motivating factors by relying on one single theory. As a result of this emphasis, mini-theories were developed to help explain some but not all of motivated behavior. For example, mini-theories might attempt to explain why a student is performing poorly in elementary school or why Mini-theories became popular because they focused largely on cognitive approaches to intellectual behavior.They represented a reaction to the idea that humans are inherently passive. They also reflected a growing need for psychology to provide answers to questions that had Copernican social implications or solved problems that were socially relevant. Edwin Lockes Goal ground Theory states that people who set goals for themselves will become motivated to fulfill those goals, solely as a result of making those goals. Furthermore, those who set specific goals that are more difficult are able to achieve a higher level of performance than those who set easier and abstract goals.The Goal Setting Theory outlines five important principles of goal setting that motivates individuals and they are clarity(measurable and plain goals with a specific completion time ensure that there is no misunderstanding about what is required to reach the goal), challenge (difficult goals are often more motivating than easier goals), loading (when there is a strong commitment to the goal, there is a higher level of motivation), feedback (it is important to provide opportunities for elucidate and reassuring), and task complexity (allowing time for people to achieve the goal or learn what is needed to achieve the goal).One important aspect of the goals is that they must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound (SMART). In 1975 the theory was scientifically proven by researchers Latham and Baldes. Common criticisms of this theory are that it is a technique rather than a theory, it can produce undesirable competition, and it emphasizes some aspects over others (quantity over quality). cognitive Dissonance Achievement Motivation Learned HelplessnessOthers? FestingerAtkinsonSeligman 1950s19641975 The Cognitive Dissonance Theory is based off of the idea of cognitive haphazardness.Cognitive dissonance is the awkward flavor that arises from having two dateing thoughts at the same time. Dissonance is referred to as the uncomfortable feeling and can often be projected as feelings of guilt, doubt or immorality. Dissonance can also be greater in some cases such as with big decisions or decisions that will have a great impact, decisions that are particularly difficult to solve (such as with two similar decisions), and decisions that are concerned with oneself.This theory states that when a person has these conflic ting thoughts, then they will be motivated to resolve the conflict as humans tend to seek consistency within their thoughts. lots there are three ways that a person will resolve the conflict. They may change their behavior, justify their behavior by ever-changing the conflicting beliefs to reduce dissonance (such as by reducing the importance), or justify the behavior by adding more beliefs that will reduce dissonance (such as focusing on strengths).It is important to note that one will be more likely to change their attitude or beliefs as there would be less dissonance involved, rather than changing ones behavior. Atkinsons theory states orientation is the result of two break off motives the motive of achieving success and the motive to avoid failure. A persons motivation to achieve success depends on three factors the need to succeed, the persons estimate of the ability to success and likelihood of succeeding, and the incentive for success.The motive to avoid failure shares the same three conditions, but in relation to avoiding failure. This theory has been criticized due to the fact that a persons needs must be known before behavior can be affected. The Learned Helplessness theory speculated after testing on dogs, that humans too learn to be helpless when placed in a situation in which their actions seem to not have an effect, leading to depression. It has been criticized for not distinguishing between universal and personal helplessness.