Gelernte Hilflosigkeit

Objective: The learned helplessness hypothesis states that individuals exposed to loss of control show cognitive, emotional and motivational deficits. Various variables such as gender and attributional style have been reported to influence the development of learned helplessness, albeit with inconsistent findings. Therefore the aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the effects of gender, attributional style and personality on experimentally induced helplessness. Additionally, emotional and cognitive symptoms of helplessness were investigated. Method: The sample consisted of 30 male and 30 female University students aged 19 to 30 years (n = 60). Helplessness was induced by processing a computer-assisted anagram task consisting of solvable and unsolvable items. The degree of helplessness was assessed by a specific questionnaire. Prior to the helplessness task all participants completed a comprehensive psychological test battery including various intelligence (sub-) tests, the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), the German version of the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASF-E), the Positive and Negative Affective Schedule (PANAS) and the Emotional Self Rating (ESR). Results and Conclusion: Data analysis revealed no significant gender differences concerning the development of helplessness. Male participants showing signficantly higher agreeableness were more susceptible to helplessness while females displaying lower agreeableness tended to become helpless. Other gender-specific interactions were found regarding the individual attributional behavior: A negative attributional style (negative stable, global and internal attributions for failure) was associated with increased helplessness in women. Those results are in line with previous helplessness studies considering the interaction of gender with personality and attributional variables. Anger and aggression were increased after induction. Those findings support the discrimination in helplessness or reactance as a reaction to loss of control.Objective: The learned helplessness hypothesis states that individuals exposed to loss of control show cognitive, emotional and motivational deficits. Various variables such as gender and attributional style have been reported to influence the development of learned helplessness, albeit with inconsistent findings. Therefore the aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the effects of gender, attributional style and personality on experimentally induced helplessness. Additionally, emotional and cognitive symptoms of helplessness were investigated. Method: The sample consisted of 30 male and 30 female University students aged 19 to 30 years (n = 60). Helplessness was induced by processing a computer-assisted anagram task consisting of solvable and unsolvable items. The degree of helplessness was assessed by a specific questionnaire. Prior to the helplessness task all participants completed a comprehensive psychological test battery including various intelligence (sub-) tests, the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), the German version of the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASF-E), the Positive and Negative Affective Schedule (PANAS) and the Emotional Self Rating (ESR). Results and Conclusion: Data analysis revealed no significant gender differences concerning the development of helplessness. Male participants showing signficantly higher agreeableness were more susceptible to helplessness while females displaying lower agreeableness tended to become helpless. Other gender-specific interactions were found regarding the individual attributional behavior: A negative attributional style (negative stable, global and internal attributions for failure) was associated with increased helplessness in women. Those results are in line with previous helplessness studies considering the interaction of gender with personality and attributional variables. Anger and aggression were increased after induction. Those findings support the discrimination in helplessness or reactance as a reaction to loss of control