{"id":43541,"date":"2021-07-20T16:58:02","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T20:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=43541"},"modified":"2021-08-03T17:05:57","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T21:05:57","slug":"seligman-learned-helplessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/","title":{"rendered":"Seligman&#8217;s Learned Helplessness Theory: Why You Fail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is Seligman\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/learned-helplessness-theory\/\">learned helplessness theory<\/a>? How can you overcome <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/overcome-learned-helplessness\/\">learned helplessness<\/a> to improve your response to life\u2019s difficulties?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When difficult things happen, it&#8217;s easy to respond with negativity. But this response can lead to learned helplessness, an emotional state where you can\u2019t see a positive outcome. This is damaging because if you assume you&#8217;ll fail, chances are you will.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Find out how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/martin-seligman-learned-helplessness\/\">Seligman&#8217;s learned helplessness<\/a> theory can help you overcome failure.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Seligman\u2019s Learned Helplessness Theory, Explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A potent and pervasive form of limiting belief is learned helplessness. <strong>Learned helplessness results from generalizing one or more failures into a global belief about your incompetence: <\/strong>You believe that nothing you could possibly do would make a positive difference. People who suffer from learned helplessness quickly give up when they face challenges because they assume they\u2019ll fail, which prevents them from ever having the chance to succeed. Conversely, optimistic, high-achieving people find ways to overcome failure.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psychologist Martin Seligman\u2019s learned helplessness theory identifies three patterns of belief that support it:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Permanence<\/strong>: People who persevere in the face of adversity see their problems as <em>temporary<\/em>, while people who suffer from learned helplessness perceive their challenges as <em>permanent<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Pervasiveness<\/strong>: People who persist despite obstacles see their challenges as <em>specific<\/em> to a particular area of their life, while people who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/feeling-helpless-in-life\/\">feel helpless<\/a> interpret the same challenges as <em>pervasive<\/em> or global. For example, the first type of person may acknowledge that she has a habit of overeating, while the second type of person generalizes this belief and thinks that he is a gluttonous and weak-willed person.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Personal<\/strong>: People who carry on after failure believe that they need to change their <em>approach<\/em> in order to succeed in the future, while people who feel helpless assume that the problem is <em>them<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The helplessness-driven beliefs are toxic, and their harmful effects compound when combined. If you face a challenge and perceive it to be both permanent and pervasive, the prospect of a better future looks bleak.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Begin to break the mindset of learned helplessness by finding something in your life that you can control, and then taking action to control it. The act of taking control of something in your life\u2014instead of succumbing to helplessness\u2014proves your power and efficacy and shows that you <em>can<\/em> make a positive difference. This can create momentum for further success and provide a reference for a more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/empowering-beliefs\/\">empowering belief<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is Seligman\u2019s learned helplessness theory? How can you overcome learned helplessness to improve your response to life\u2019s difficulties?&nbsp; When difficult things happen, it&#8217;s easy to respond with negativity. But this response can lead to learned helplessness, an emotional state where you can\u2019t see a positive outcome. This is damaging because if you assume you&#8217;ll fail, chances are you will.&nbsp; Find out how Seligman&#8217;s learned helplessness theory can help you overcome failure.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":36055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,43],"tags":[436],"class_list":["post-43541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-awaken-the-giant-within","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Seligman&#039;s Learned Helplessness Theory: Why You Fail - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is an overview of Seligman\u2019s learned helplessness theory. Learn how to avoid learned helplessness and overcome failure.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seligman&#039;s Learned Helplessness Theory: Why You Fail\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is an overview of Seligman\u2019s learned helplessness theory. Learn how to avoid learned helplessness and overcome failure.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-20T20:58:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-03T21:05:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/person-water-drowning-help.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Shaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rina\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Shaw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Shaw\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df3c3c8448816a34bfdc78d7eda164c4\"},\"headline\":\"Seligman&#8217;s Learned Helplessness Theory: Why You Fail\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-20T20:58:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-03T21:05:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/\"},\"wordCount\":423,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/person-water-drowning-help.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Awaken the Giant Within\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/\",\"name\":\"Seligman's Learned Helplessness Theory: Why You Fail - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/person-water-drowning-help.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-20T20:58:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-03T21:05:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"This is an overview of Seligman\u2019s learned helplessness theory. Learn how to avoid learned helplessness and overcome failure.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/person-water-drowning-help.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/person-water-drowning-help.jpeg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Seligman&#8217;s Learned Helplessness Theory: Why You Fail\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df3c3c8448816a34bfdc78d7eda164c4\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Shaw\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/wordpress-profile-picture.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/wordpress-profile-picture.png\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Shaw\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in English Literature. Growing up, she enjoyed reading fairy tales, Beatrix Potter stories, and The Wind in the Willows. As of today, her all-time favorite book is Wuthering Heights, with Jane Eyre as a close second. Elizabeth has branched out to non-fiction since graduating and particularly enjoys books relating to mindfulness, self-improvement, history, and philosophy.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/rina\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth-shaw\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Seligman's Learned Helplessness Theory: Why You Fail - Shortform Books","description":"This is an overview of Seligman\u2019s learned helplessness theory. Learn how to avoid learned helplessness and overcome failure.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Seligman's Learned Helplessness Theory: Why You Fail","og_description":"This is an overview of Seligman\u2019s learned helplessness theory. Learn how to avoid learned helplessness and overcome failure.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-07-20T20:58:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-03T21:05:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":533,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/person-water-drowning-help.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Shaw","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@rina","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Shaw","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Shaw","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df3c3c8448816a34bfdc78d7eda164c4"},"headline":"Seligman&#8217;s Learned Helplessness Theory: Why You Fail","datePublished":"2021-07-20T20:58:02+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-03T21:05:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/"},"wordCount":423,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/person-water-drowning-help.jpeg","keywords":["Awaken the Giant Within"],"articleSection":["Psychology","Self-Improvement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/","name":"Seligman's Learned Helplessness Theory: Why You Fail - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/person-water-drowning-help.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-07-20T20:58:02+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-03T21:05:57+00:00","description":"This is an overview of Seligman\u2019s learned helplessness theory. Learn how to avoid learned helplessness and overcome failure.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/person-water-drowning-help.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/person-water-drowning-help.jpeg","width":800,"height":533},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seligman-learned-helplessness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Seligman&#8217;s Learned Helplessness Theory: Why You Fail"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df3c3c8448816a34bfdc78d7eda164c4","name":"Elizabeth Shaw","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/wordpress-profile-picture.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/wordpress-profile-picture.png","caption":"Elizabeth Shaw"},"description":"Elizabeth graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in English Literature. Growing up, she enjoyed reading fairy tales, Beatrix Potter stories, and The Wind in the Willows. As of today, her all-time favorite book is Wuthering Heights, with Jane Eyre as a close second. Elizabeth has branched out to non-fiction since graduating and particularly enjoys books relating to mindfulness, self-improvement, history, and philosophy.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/rina"],"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth-shaw\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/person-water-drowning-help.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43541"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44309,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43541\/revisions\/44309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}