A review of theoretical explanations for learned helplessness in humans

Abstract

This article presents the learned helplessness paradigm and reviews several of the main theoretical explanations regarding the effects of uncontrollability on subsequent performance in humans. These theoretical explanations are divided into those that consider the effects to be a result of a motivational alteration and those centered on a cognitive disruption. Although the observed effects remain rather puzzling, it seems that cognitive-disruption explanations appear promising for a better understanding of learned helplessness in humans.