Learned Hopelessness

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AchievementM otivation:Fromthe

Perspective of

Learned

Hopelessness

A U

C H UN G - P AR K

Hong Kong Institute

of

Education

This

article givesabrief

introduction

ofteamed

hopelessness with special

emphasis on how the hopelessness theory of depression is developed

(Abramson, Metalsky,

Alloy,

19 89) and its application to

studies

of

learned hopelessness

in

achievement domains. W ithin

the

theoretical

framework,

the

concepts

of

attributional styles, causal

attributions,

learned hopelessness,

and

hopelessness

deficits

are

discussed.

The re-

search problems in conceptual and assessment

issues,

particularly on

learned hopelessness

and

attributional styles

are

highlighted.

Achievement Mot ivat ion

M o t i v a t i o n is

impor tan t because

i tc o n t r i b u t e s to and

pred ic t s , a long

w i t h

othe r va r iab le s , more v i s ib le ou tcomes such as ach ievement . Ach ievem ent

mot iva t i on

research has been developed inf o u r s tages. In s tage one du r in g

th e

1940s,

th e

experimental

s tudy o f mot iva t ion w as in i t i a l ly

concerned

w i t h th e search fo r t he m o t o r s o f b e h a v i o r a n d w a s l i n k e d w i t h c onc e p t s

such

a s

i n s t i n c t ,

des i r e , a rousa l and need (Spence , 1958) . In s t age tw o

d u r i n g

t h e

1960s,there

w a s th e

more gene ra ls h i f t

in

m o t i va t i on a l p s y ch o l -

ogy

away f rom mechani sm toward cogni t ion (Weine r , 1972) .

I t was

gradua l ly

bel ieved

that i f reward was perceived as controll ing, then i t

unde rmined fu ture e f for t , w he reas r eward pe rce ived as pos i t ive feedback

w as motivat in g (Deci, 1975). Fur thermore, rew ard for easy task w as a cue

to low

ab i l i ty ,

a

be li e f t ha t inh ib i t s mo t iva t ion , w hereas r ew ard

fo r

di ff icul t

task

communica ted t ha t ha rd work w as expended in c on ju nc t i on w i t h

h i g h ab i l i ty ,

a

b e l i ef t h a t a u g m e n t s m o t i va t i on .

A s

co gn i t ive approach

w as

init ially

accepted,

researchers began to concentrate o n h um an rather

t h a n infra h u m a n b e h a v i o r w i t h s tud ie s a s soc ia ted w i t h expec tancy ,

anxiety a b ou t f a i lu re , locus o fcont ro l an d ach ievement needs . Mot iva t ion


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84 AuChung-park

de termined by wha t one expected to get and the l ikel ihood of get t ing i t

w as

t he cen tra l concept ion i n expec t ancy-va lue t heor i es (A tk inso n , 1964;

Rot ter, 1966).

I n

stagethreedu r ing

th e

1980s, t here

w a s a

g rea t e r foc us

on

se l f- es teem, curios i ty , a t t r ibut ional theory, a n d par t i cu la r lya c h i e v e m e n t

s t r iv ings (Ball, 1982).

In

a d d i ti o n ,

th e

b e g i n n i n g s

o f

a t t e n t ion p a i d

to the

self were observed in s tudies o f self -ascrip t ion fo r success and f a i lu re ,

self -concept and self -ef f icacy (Band ura , 1977; Shav elso n, H ubn er, &

Stanton, 1976), Final ly in

stage

four during the 1990s , there are

vo lum inous number o f s tud i es on m ot iva t ion f rom a cogn i t i ve perspec ti ve .

Research i s more

concerned

w i th h o w s t ud e n t s th i n k h o w t h e y

t h in k

a b o u t t hemselves , l ea rn ing t a sk and lea rn ing ou tcomes . Th i s resea rch ha s

focused on a w ide va r ie ty o f cogn i t ive

processes

i n c l u d i n g c o n c ep ts s u c h

as self -esteem, self -ef f icacy, causal a t t r ibut ions , sel f - regu la ted s t ra tegies ,

and ach i evement

goals.

Recent ly , there

h as

been

a

g row ing in t e res t

in t he

s t u d y

o fachievement mot iva t ion from th eperspectiveo f learnedhopeless-

ness in the hope of unders tanding ofschool f a i lu res i n pub l i c educa t i on .

Research

on learned

hopelessness

has

addressed

a range of issues includ-

in ghow motivational

processes

can be conceptualized in terms of causal

a t t r ibut ions a ndlearned

hopelessness,

h ow theseprocessesd i f f e ren t across

i n d i v i d u a l s a n d change over t ime, a n d h o w t h e y c a n b e r e g u l a te d w h e n

t h e y

a rem a l a d a p t i v e .Ina d d i t i o n , c ro s s - c u l tu r a ls t u d i e sh a v e r e v e a le d

t h a t

cu l tu r a l f ac to rs media t e causa l a t t r i bu t ions fo r a c h i e v e m e n t . C h i n e s e s t u -

d e n t s ,

soc i a l i zed to v a l u e h a r d w o r k a n d e n d u ra n c e , t a ke m o re pe r s o n a l

responsibi l i ty for thei rsuccess and f a i lu re t han t he i r w es t e rn coun terpa r t s .

Hence, Ci i inese s tudents

a re

more l ikely

to

a t t r i bu te t he i r ach i evement

outcomes to internal andcontrollable causessuch a s e f fo r t and s tudy sk i l l s

t h a n tc

ab i l i t y

(Hau , 1989) .

A b i l i t y

iscons idered r e la t i v e ly l es s i m p o r t a n t

an d

an attribute that is

more controllable

and can beincreased by e f fo r t

( H a u , 1992; H a u & Sa l i l i , 1991) . Ef fo r t a t t r i bu t ionis m o r e a d a p t i v et h a n

abi l i ty as i t i s ego-defens ive and gu i l t-rela ted. Fi rs t , i tprotects self-esteem

an d

s l o w s d o w n w i t h d r a w a l

an d

mot iva t i on i nh ib i t i on . Second ,

i t

e l i c i t s

gui l t -rela ted a f fects (regret , remorse, g u i l t ) w h i c h w o u l d p ro m o t e ef for t

expend i ture and mot iva t i ona l ac t i va t i on (Wicker , Payne , & Morgan ,

1983). As a resu l t , learned ho pelessness can be m ini m ized in the face of

a c a d e m i c f a i lu r e . H o w e v e r , in un iversa l f ree educa t i on , s choo l f a i lu r e s

becomemoreandmoreserious.To preventschoolfa i lures ,thereis a need

to e x a m i n e h o w t h e p ro longed academic f a i lu re s a n d c a u s a l

a t t r ibu t ions

con t r ibu te t o t he onse t o f lea rned ho peles snes s i n s tude n t s .


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Achievement

M otivation

85

The Learned Hopelessness Theory of epression

Th e hopeles sness theory o f depression provides a theoretical fram ew ork

for

s tud ie s

on

hope le ssness

and i ts

cogni t ive correlates such

as

ne g a t i ve

l ife events , hopelessness def ic i ts and inferences people make about causes ,

consequences

and

self-character is t ics (Abramson,

et

al., 1989)

as

s h o w n

in

th e casual Model 1be low :

Model

1

Causal ChainImplied

inAbramsonet

al. s

Theory of

Learned

Hopelessness

Negative

lifeevents

nferen es

Learned

hopelessness

Hopelessness

deficits

Th e basic premiseof the learned

hopelessness

theory ofdepression ist h a t

people,in faceofnegat ive l i fe events ,becomepassivea nddepressed w h e n

they at t r ibute negat ive life events to stable an d

global

causes. W h e t h e r

self-esteemcollapses dependso n whether they attribute the badoutcomes

to internal characteristics. The construction of the theory is greatly in-

debted

to the

ideas

o f

Seligman

(1975)on the

conception

oflearned

help-

le ssness . Se l igma n conce ived

t h a t

experiences w i th uncont ro l lab le event s

can lead to lea rned he lp le s sness ( t he expec ta t ion of non-cont ingency be -

t w e e n

o n e ' s

response

and

des i red ou tcomes) wh ich ,

in

turn , r e su l t s

in

m o t i v a t i o n a l

de f i c i t s (pa s s iv i ty

an dlow ered pe r s is t ence ) , cogn i t ivede f ic i t s

( inabi l i ty

to

pe rce ive exi s t ing oppo r tuni ty

to

control

outcomes) ,

and

emo-

t iona l de f i c i t s ( sadness

and

self-esteem).

These

defic i ts

a re

co l lec t ive ly

k n o w n as learned helplessness defic i ts which are the componen t s of a

genera l sy nd rom e labe led "depress ion" . H ow ever ,

th e

or ig ina l lea rned

he lp le s sness t heoryfai ls

to

e x p l a i n :

1. Th e s tabil i tyo f

h e lp le s sness de f i c i t s

in

t i m e ,

2 . The generalityo fhelplessness defic i ts across s i tuat ions,

3 . W hy

people w ou ld lose self-esteem w hen they perceive they

are

help 'ess ,

4. I n d i v i d u a ld i f fe ren ces in people 's suscep t ibi l i ty to helplessness .

A b r a m s o n ,

S e l i g m a n ,

& Teasda le (1978) proposed a r e formula ted

theory of he lp le s sness t ha t gave causa l a t t r ibu t ions a cent ra l p lace to

resolve

th e

inadequac ie s

in th e

or iginal theory.

Accord ing to t h i s r e formu la t ion , t he a t t r ibu t ion for

good

and bad ou t -

comes

can be

c lass i f ied

on

t h ree d imens ions

o f

causa l i ty .These three


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causa l

d imens ions , namely s t ab i l i ty , g loba l i ty and in te rna l i ty , de te rmine

respectively

th e

generali ty

o f

helplessness ,

th e

chronic i ty

of

helplessness

and

th e

lowered self-esteem, par t icular ly

i f the

causal a t t r ibut ion

is

stable

an d g loba l .

In

s u m , A b r a m s o n , M e t a ls k y ,

&

A l l o y 'sm a i ncont r ibu t ion l ie s

in t he spec i f i ca t ion of w hy and how a pe rson becomes hope le ss and , in

t u rn ,

deve lops

th e

ho pe le ssness de f i c i t s

as

postulated

in

their latest version

ofthe theory (A bramson e t a l ., 1989).

Depression

Helplessness andHopelessness

Ab ramso n e t a . (1989) specif ied tha t learned h elplessness invo lves a hig h

expectancy o f non-cont ingency be tweenone's response anddesired ou t -

comes, w hereas learned ho pelessness

(a low

expectancy

of

goal a t ta in-

ment) involves negat ive expectat ions about

th e

occurrence

o f

h igh ly

valued outcomes

in

add i t ion

to a

helplessness expectancy.Thus ,hopeless-

ness is asubset o fhelplessness . W hereas h elplessness is a necessary com-

ponent of hopelessness, i t is not suff ic ient to

producehopelessness

as a

subtype ofdepression (Garber, Miller, &A bramson,

1980).

Helplessness

w ou ld then be a necessary, ra ther tha n a suff ic ient , antecedent of general

depres s ion (W eine r , 1980).

F o l l o w i n g

t h i s

l ead , one may be he lp le s s w i thout be ing hope le ss as

pos i t i ve an tic ipat ion may be

su s ta ine d

by t hepercept ion

t h a t

som eone e lse

is g o i ngt oh elp (e .g., social s u p p or t )or bya t t r ibu t ing th e c u r r en t non - c on -

t ingency

to

uns tab le exte rna l causes ( e.g. , t a skd i f f i c u l ty ).Th i s concept ion

of hopelessness has recen t ly been recognized and ahopelessnesst heory of

depression

h as

been fo rmula ted (Abram son

et

al.,1989).

Learned H opelessness in Ach ievem ent Dom ains

Th e

concept

of

learned hopelessness ini t ia l ly developed

and

used

as a

cl inica l

tool to

identify

hopelessness depression, i s now being invest igated

in

a c a d em i c d om a i n s b v

e d u c a t i o n a l

researchers who argue that learned

hope le ssness pred ic t s

de f i c i t s

in ach ievement -or ien ted behavior s an d

ach ievement p e r f o r m a nc e ( D w e c k

&

Wor tman, 1982)

as

s h o w n

in the

causa l

M o d e l

2 .

In th e m c d e l . s ix in te r re la ted paramete r s are pos tu la ted : academic

fai lures, a t t r ibu t iona l s tyle ,c a u s a l at t r ibut ion s, learned hopelessness , hope-

lessness

defic i ts and

a c h i e ve m e n t p e r fo r m a nc e .

Th e

hypothes ized causa l

cha in begins

w i t h

th e occurrence o f academic fa i lu re s and e nd s

w i t h


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Achievement Motivation

8

Model2 Causal

Chain between

Learned

Hopelessness

and

Other Five

Cognitive Correlates

Casual

attributions

Learned

hopelessness

Hopelessnes?

deficits

Academic

performance

a c h i e v e m e n t pe r formance . The hope le ssness mode l o f ach ievement

motivat ion proposes a comprehens ive causa l pa thway tha t cu lmina te s in

th e deve lopment

o f

hopelessness.

It is a

d iathesis-s t ress mo del

in

w h i ch

a

particular attributional style interacting w ith academ ic failures isexpected

to be a r isk

factor

for the

development

o f

hopelessnessand ,

in

turn, hope-

lessness deficits. That is, the combined contr ibut ions of maladapt ive at-

tributionalstyleandacademicfailures leadto theincreasedlikelihoodof

making aglobal, stableattributionfor aparticular academic failure. Such

global

and

s table at t r ibut ion

for a

par t i cu la r academic

fai lure ,

results

in an

increased pro babi l i ty

o f t he

d e ve lop m e n t

of

hope le ssness . H ope le ssness ,

in

tu rn , is a proximal suff ic ient cause o f hope le ssness de f i c i t s . Th e m o d e l

sugges t s the h ope le ssness ( a nega t ive ou tcome expec tancy and a he lp les s

expectancy) to be thec ruc ia l de te rminant o f t he def ic i ts o f learned hope-

lessness . This hopelessness

can be

m o d u l a t ed

by t he

in fe rences s tudent s

make about causes , consequences and self character is t ics in the face of

a c a d e m i c

fa i lu re s . Wi th in each paramete r ,

a n u m b e r o f

c ons t r u c t s

a nd

hopeles snes s - re la t ed b e h a v i o r sarespec i f i edande labora tedasb e lo w :

Learned

Hopelessness

According

to the

hopelessness

theory, hopelessness , nam ely,

a

nega t ive

expectat ion about th e occurrence o fh i g h ly va lu e d ou t c om e sCoupled w i t h

an expectat ion of helplessness abo ut chang ing the l ikelihood of occurrence

of t he se ou tcomes

is the

proximal

su f f i c i e n t

cause

of

s y m p i om s

o f

h op e -

lessness .

As can be

seen

in the

m o d e l ,

a

sequence

c f

academic fai lures

is

specif ied as contr ibutory causes in a causal chain hypothesized to cul-

mina te in t h i s p roximal suff ic ient cause . Those contr ibutory causes are

ant icipa ted to vary i n how proximal t hey are to the occurrence o f t he

hopelessness defic i ts .


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Causal A t t r i b u t i o n s

When con f ron ted w i t h academic fai lures, there

a re

in f e rences about

c a u s e s ,consequences and sel f -character is t ics .Thesethree k in ds of in feren-

c es

d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r

or not a

s tuden t becomes h ope le ss and ,

in

t u r n ,

develops

def ic i t s o f

hopelessness.

In

add i t ion ,

it

should

be

particularly

l ike ly to lead to hope le ssness w hen academic f a i lu re s are attributed to

stable

and

global causes

and are

v i ew e d

as

impor tan t Fo l low ing

the

same

l og ic ,

inferred nega t ive consequences an d sel f -character is t ics should be

par t icular ly

l ikely to lead to hopelessness when these negative consequen-

c e s and

sel f -character is t ics

a re

v i e w e d

as

impor tan t ,

n o t

remediable ,

un -

l ikely t oc h a n g eand a saf fec t ing m any academic a reas .

Attributional Styles

A t t r ibu t iona l

style referstoone's general tendency to at tr ibute academic

fai lures to

causes tha t

are

s table

in

t ime, global

in

e f f ec t

an d

in ternal

to

oneself .It is ad is tal con tr ibutory causeof the deficits ofhopelessness tha t

operates

in the

presence

of

academic fai lures.

It is

suggested tha t this

at t ibut ional

s tyle in teract ing w ith academic fai lures

predicts hopelessness

a n d , in t u rn , th e def ic i t s o f hope le ssness . Tha t is , the l e ss nega t ive a

s t u d e n t ' s

at t r ibut ional s tyle ,t h e

m ore academic f a i lu re s need

to be in

o rde r

to

inte rac t

w i t h t h a t

s ty le

a n d c o n t r i b u t et o t h e deve lopmen t o f hope le ss -

n e s s

an d de f i c i t s .

Hopelessness Def ic i ts

It isan t ic ipa ted ha t hope lessness l eadst o adef ined cluster o fhopelessness

def ic i t s . T h e

c lus te r cons i s t s

of (1)

m o t i v a t i o n a l d e f i c it s

( pas s iv i t y an d

l owe re d

pe r s i s tence )(2 ) co gn i t ive de f ic i t s ( in ab i l i tyto pe rce ive ex is t ing

oppor t un i t y

to

con t ro l ou tcom es) ,

(3)

em o t iona l de f ic it s ( sadness )

and (4 )

lowered self-esteem.

It is

expected tha t

the motivational andcognitive

defic i ts derive

from

the helplessness expectancy component o f

hopeless-

ness (expec ta t ion tha t no th ingcan be changed ) , whereas sadness de r ives

f rom the negative outcome expectancy component o fhopelessness (expec-

ta t ion t h a tt h efu tu re isbleak) . Low ered sel f -esteem is adef ic i to f hopeless-

n e s s

w h e n

a na c a d e m i cfa i lu re is a t t r ibu tedto an in te rna l , s tab lea n dg loba l

c ause (Crocker , A l loy, & Kay ne, 1988; Dw eck & Licht , 1980). In add it ion ,

hope l e s sne s s

is character ized by some o ther def ic i ts such as suic ide , de-

pendency an d d i f f icu l ty in concen tra t ion (A bramson e t al . , 1988; Abram-

son e t

al., 1989; Alloy

&

Keo n ing , 1988) .


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Achievement

Motivation 89

Research Problems

In th e pas t decade , inves t iga tor s hav e used both c ross -sec tiona l and

prospect ive research s t rategies

to

tes t

th e

hope le ssness t heory . Overa l l ,

s t u d i e s h a v e s h o w n th a t th e t e nd e nc ytom ake in te rna l , s t ab le ,and global

a t t r ibu t ion sf o racademic fai luresiscorrelated tosever i tyo fconcur renta n d

fu ture depressive deficits incollege s tudents ,

patients

and

o ther

samples

(B re w i n ,

1985; Peterson

&

Saligman, 1984; Sweeney, Anderson,

&

Bai l e y , 1986). However , inconsis tencyw asf o u n d inresearch

f ind ings wi th

some data apparent ly support ive of the model and some apparent ly not

suppor t i ve at a l l (Forle t te , Jacobson, 1987; Ha mm en, 1981) . Alth oug h the

prospect ive

s tudies used to tes t the hopelessness theory prov ide important

in fo rmat ion no t yie lded by t he cross-sect ional s tudies , th e e ffec t o f t he

interact ionbe tw een academic fa i lu re s

a nd

causal a t t r ibut ions

onhopeless-

ness

has not been

adequately examined

(Cutrona , 1983).T h u s ,adequate

testsof the d iatheses-s t ress and causal med iat ion compon ents o f the th eory

s h o u l d

deserve more attention in future research o f learnedhopelessness,

particularly in academic domains. In addition to requiring

appropriate

research designs, an adequate test o f the ho pelessness theory requires

appropria te

s t rategies

fo r

c onc e p t u a l i z i ng

an d

as se ss ing

th e

var ious

t heo re t ica l

cons t ruc t sfeatured in the th eory (e .g. , a t t r ib ut io na l s tyle , nega-

t i v e li fe events , learned hopelessness) .

Fo r the

a s s e s s m e n t

o f

a t t r ibu t iona l

s ty l e s , t he re a re t h ree impor tan t conceptua l improvement s t ha t de se rve

a t t e n t ion

( Ab r a m s onet al. , 1988a, 1988b):

1. A ttr ibut iona l s tyles should

be

assessed

in

content domains wi th

h i g h

personal meaning to subjects.

2 . A t t r ibu t iona l s ty le s shou ld in te rac t s ign i f ican t ly wi th academic

fai lures to pred ic t hope le ssness and , in tu rn , de f i c i t s o f hopeless-

ness .

3.

At t r ibu t iona l s ty le s

assessed

w i th

a

hypo thet ical-e vent procedure

shou ld

be good predictors o f depress ive reac t ions f o l low ing rea l

academic fai lures.

Conclusion

A spredic tedb yAb r a m s onet al. (1989) , individualsw h och aracter is t ically

a t t r ibu te nega t ive life event s to in te rna l , g loba l an d s table causes tend to

perce ive t hemse lves

a s

hopeless

in the

presence

o f a

ne g a t i ve l ife event

and ,

in

turn ,d e ve lop

th e

de f i c i t s

o f

hope le ssness .

In

ach ieveme nt se t t ings ,


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90 Au Chung-park

th e l earned hopelessness theory o f depression can be used to explain

deficits in m otiva t ion and achievement-oriented behaviors (Dw eek, 1975;

Peterson

& .

B arret t , 1937; W einer, 1985). A ccordin gly, w he n studen ts face

f rus t rat ion and academic fai lures and

h a v e

a

n e g a t i v e

at tr ibutional

s ty le ,

t hey tend to develop hopelessness and, in tu rn ,t h e mo t iva t ional de f ic it s ,

cogni t ive defici ts ,

affective

defici ts

a nd

lowered sel f-esteem that

a re

char -

acterist ics of h opelessness (Abram son et al ., 1989). As th ere is s t i ll consid-

erable debate a ndl i t tl e sys tem at ic da ta ex is tingon t herole ofthese causa l

media t i onc o mp o n e n t s

in th e

et iology

o f

learned hopelessness (Coyne

a nd

Gotlib, 1983; Peterson

et

al.,

1985),

testing these predictions w i l l

be the

primary directiono f fu ture mo tivat ion research in learned hopelessness. In

add i t ion , ma n y s t u d e n t s in f l u e n c edb y cu l tu ra l va lues which s t ress hard

w o r k

and persistence coupled w i t h ha r sh l e a r n in g e n v i r o n me n tin H o n g

Kon g ma y eventual ly d evelop learned

hopelessness

after repeated failures.

So now , i t is time to study and understand ho w students ' academic fa i lures

an d

their cha racterist ic at tr ibution al pat tern

ar e

related

to

learned hopeless-

ness

in the

Hong Kong con tex t.

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Documents

Learned Hopelessness