Learned helplessness appears when a person or animal is exposed to an aversive stimulus which it cannot escape (Fincham, Hokoda, & Sanders, 1989). The individual will eventually stop trying to avoid the aversive stimulus and begin to behave as though they are helpless to change the situation. The individual will begin to think that they are worthless because of their persisting failure to succeed (Fincham, Hokoda, & Sanders, 1989). Because of this mental state of feeling helpless, the individual will remain helpless even when the opportunity to escape presents itself.
An example of learned helplessness would the effects of a bully at school. Everyday your child is bullied by an …show more content…
Or do you remember a time when you were not allowed to go to any parties, malls, or other social gatherings without your parents tagging along? Well you most definitely had a helicopter parent. What the parents fail to realize is that what they are doing is harmful to their child’s development. This type of parenting will leave child unprepared when facing life’s difficulties later in their life. When parents frequently correct their child’s mistakes they are unconsciously conditioning their children to be helpless, which could be illustrated in the form of depression. Doing too much for the child causes the child to feel as though you do not trust them, this leads to the child’s decline in self-esteem. They will also begin to develop poor coping skills because of the parent’s decision to create an environment their child won’t have to deal with failure. This delays the child’s ability to cope whenever the unexpected occurs. You can see how this might affect the child’s development. There is a way to eliminate learned helplessness by changing the parent’s behavior, using classical