The theory of learned
helplessness was then extended to human behavior,
providing a model for explaining depression...
Depressed people became that way because they learned
to be helpless. Depressed people learned that
whatever they did, was futile. During the course of
their lives, depressed people apparently learned that
they have no control.
Learned helplessness explained
a lot of things, but then researchers began to find
exceptions, of people who did not get depressed, even
after many bad life experiences. Psychologist Martin
Seligman discovered that a depressed person thought
about the bad event in more pessimistic ways than a
nondepressed person. He called this thinking,
"explanatory style," borrowing ideas from
attribution theory.
For example, lets say you fail a math exam. How do
you explain why? You could think:
1) I am stupid.
2) I'm not good in math.
3) I was unlucky, it was
Friday the 13th.
4) The math teacher is
prejudiced.
5) The math teacher grades
hard.
6) I was feeling ill that
day.
7) The math teacher gave an
expecially hard test this time.
8) I didn't have time to
study.
9) The teacher grades on a
curve.
Seligman found that these
explanations could be rated along three dimensions:
Personalization:
internal vs. external
Pervasiveness:
specific vs. universal
Permanence:
temporary vs. permanent.
He found that the most
pessimistic explanatory style is correlated with the
most depression: The statement "I am
stupid" is classified as internal (use of I),
universal, and permanent. This response conveys a
sense of discouragement, hopelessness, and despair.
On the other hand, a more
optimistic person would blame someone or something
else, such as "The math teacher gave an
especially hard test this time." The most
optimistic explanatory style is external, specific
and temporary. Conversely, for a good event, the
explanatory style reverses. For example, for a
perfect score on the math exam, the depressive would
say: "I was lucky that day," discounting
his intelligence. The optimist would say something
much more encouraging, such as "I am
smart." We often learn explanatory styles from
our parents