EXPLANATORY STYLE AND HELPLESSNESS

In: Social behavior and personality: an international journal, Band 20, Heft 1, S. 1-13

Abstract

Explanatory style refers to our habitual ways of explaining bad events. According to the reformulation of the learned helplessness model, stability and globality of explanatory style influence the extent of helplessness following bad events. However, most research involving explanatory
style looks not at helpless behavior per se but rather at more distant consequences (like depression) ostensibly involving helplessness. In the present research, we explicitly investigated helplessness and its relationship to explanatory style. Study One found that students (n = 40)
who explained bad events with stable and global causes were less likely than their more optimistic counterparts to take active steps to improve their course performance following a poor grade. In contrast, internality of explanatory style was positively correlated with active coping attempts.
Study Two found that young adults (n = 72) who explained bad events with stable and global causes were less likely to take active steps to feel better when they experienced symptoms of illness. Internality of explanatory style was not significantly correlated with attempts to feel better.