Effects of Motivation on Learned Helplessness

Learned helplessness is a behavior typically associated with painful or otherwise aversive stimuli in which the person is unable to escape or avoid the feelings. A person who experiences learned helplessness usually fails to learn or accept "escape" or "avoidance" in new situations where such behavior would likely be effective. This results in the person giving up. Biological explanation of disordered mood focus on the effects of chemicals on the brain. Scientists have identified genes that make individuals more vulnerable to low moods and influence how an individual responds to drug therapy. Social cognitive theorists believe that depression or mood disorders stems from blowing negative events out of proportion and minimizing positive good events. These depressed people continually have negative thoughts that depress them further than they already

Learned helplessness is a mental disorder that affects many people in our society. The term learned helplessness was first used by Martin Seligman and Steven Maier in the 1960’s. Dictionary.com defines it as “a mental condition in which one becomes unable to help oneself due to previous failed attempts at controlling one’s life.” This is not a genetic disorder that can be passed down from family members, rather a learned behavior that develops due to environmental factors. Seligman and Maier’s research demonstrates how the condition occurs.

Motivation is a very broad term that is discussed in a variety of settings. There is the motivation to perform in a business setting, the motivation to perform on the field of competition, the motivation to provide for friends and family, and the motivation to accomplish goals that have been set. These are all various motivations that any one person can be involved with at any time. According to Maslow, motivation always exists within a person and in various forms, “...motivation is constant, never ending, fluctuating, and complex, and that it is an almost universal characteristic of practically every organismic state of affairs” (Maslow, 1954). As complex as motivation seems, it is everyone’s intention to identify their personal

Motivation is something that we as human beings all possess. There is obvious levels of motivation, these levels make a substantial difference between a regular Joe and a multi-billion dollar executive. What drives a person to reach his/her full potential is motivation, whether good or bad. Sometimes tragedy as awkward as it may sound will provide

Human beings have a biological instinct to resist unusual. Our behaviors are influence through certainty. Not only do we learn through certainty, more significantly we are able to predict its outcome. However there are times when we just don't know why things happen or what to do after it has happened. The focus of this research is to illustrate that people react negatively to events that are uncertain because an outcome cannot be predicted.

The statement, “Motivating self and others is not so much a situational event to be solved in the moment as it is a developmental undertaking to build inner motivational resources over time”, is true. Motivation is something that needs development of the right tool and resources over time. One tool to help build inner motivational resources is the concept of appraisal. Appraisal is an estimate of the personal significance of an event (i.e. is this life event important?). This also means that appraisal, and not the event it self, causes how one feels and how one is motivated to act. For example, a person with social anxiety is scared to do anything with social interactions and therefore will not give a public speech. However, the development of the correct tools can motivate the individual with social anxiety disorder to give a public speech and get over their fear of public interactions.

Finally, the specific attribute of someone we praise contributes to their internal motivation as well. A study performed either praised students for their intelligence or their effort. Children praised for intelligence cared less about learning and had less task persistence and performance. Those who were praised for their effort cared more about learning, and showed more motivation. This experiment showed that praise for intelligence has more negative outcomes than positive (Mueller and Dweck, 1998). Another study tested if both criticism and praise on ones traits contributed to contingent worth. Participants were given one of three types of praise or criticism. Those receiving person-focused praise or criticism were more negative and helpless which created a sense of contingent self-worth and vulnerability (Kamins and Dweck, 1999).

The normal reaction to feelings of helplessness and vulnerability is often a need to regain control–

In order for motivation to cause a behavioural change it must be sourced. Motivation may be sourced either in a biological, emotional, cognitive or social manner. Biologically, motivation is sourced via food, water and temperature regulation. Emotionally, motivation is sourced via panic, fear, love or hatred. Motivation is sourced cognitively via perceptions, beliefs and expectations. Social factors also serve as a source of motivation in terms of parenting, teachers, siblings, friends and media. Motivation is subdivided into many categories in order to further explain and understand this concept. (Comparing Motivation to Emotion, 2016) (Lucs.lu.se, 2016) (Answers.yahoo.com, 2016)

Those that are intrinsically motivated have a bit of advantages over workers who are more predominantly extrinsically motivated. For instance, intrinsically motivated people work on job tasks because they find them enjoyable and interesting. Additionally, there is evidence showing that intrinsic motivation is positively correlated with learning, achievement, perception of competence and self-efficacy. At the same time, it is negatively correlated with anxiety, depression, and frustration. An intrinsically motivated individual will be committed to his or her work to the extent to which the job inherently contains tasks that are inherently rewarding to him or her (Lei, 2010).

Here we discuss research of Indian writers SURAJ MAL, UDAY JAIN and K. S. YADAV, which is called “Effects of Prolonged Deprivation on Learned Helplessness”. This study article consists of 8 pages.

Then the participants were place in a new situation where no unpleasant noise was used however, participants that were exposed to the learned helplessness condition performed worse on solving problems in the second situation than the other participants. People tend to generalize their experiences of helplessness from one situation to the next in regards to how feel about the situation and the loss of control they have towards it. Current researchers are focused on what factors influence people to develop this sense of helplessness and also goes on their mind who undergoes this interpretation of the world. The reformulation of learned helplessness theory emphasizes the importance of the thoughts that lead a person to develop feelings of helplessness. The explanatory style of the learned helplessness refers to the explanations people use to identified the causes of events. Three dimensions are used when explaining the causes of events. The first dimension identifies explanations for events as either internal or

The human mind is designed with the innate ability to achieve anything. The interesting part of this paper is how we all use different triggers and motivations to goad us into gear. Motivation is an area of psychology that has gotten a great deal of attention, especially in the recent years. There are several distinct theories of motivation we will discuss in this section. Some include basic biological forces, while others seem to transcend concrete explanation. All creatures are born with specific innate knowledge about how to survive. Animals are born with the capacity and often times knowledge of how to survive by spinning webs, building nests, avoiding danger, and reproducing. These innate tendencies are preprogrammed at birth,

A theory that supports motivation is the self determination theory. In the self determination theory people need to grow and gain fulfillment by a drive in them. Self Determination is the process of deciding how to act on ones environment. When one is trying to overcome a challenge or encountering a new experience a person wants to gain the knowledge to succeed over the new challenge. When self determination theory is in focus internal factors are at play; a person is primarily focused on the need to gain knowledge or independence. There are three factors that contribute to a student’s self determination and the needs are linked to the student’s

What is motivation? What influences it? The term motivation can be defined in different ways. Motivation can simply defined as “ a need that, if high, is evident in a strong desire to achieve, to excel, to reach a high level of excellence” (Lefrancois 430). To become motivated, one must have a positive attitude to a variety of learning skills. Some factors that influence motivation include our peers, friends, parents, and environmental settings. Division four being high school division, attention is focused towards learning and what methods can be used. Students at this stage are more eager and develop a sense of what he or she wants to do and accomplish in upcoming adulthood. With a division comes a group of intelligent theorists. All