A person can teach themselves to overcome learned helplessness and be more optimistic.  As with all forms of mental discipline, from sports psychology to the suggestions below, they seem simplistic and somewhat silly when written on paper.  However such disciplines, like exercise, healthy eating, systematic investing, and others, can have powerful effects when applied consistently and intelligently over time.  They are not magic.  But, they do work.
Is being optimistic an advantage?  People with high scores for the optimistic explanatory style has been shown to have to be the ones “immune” to learned helplessness.   Other significant benefits have been documented: Read the rest of this entry »

Why does one person act in the face of uncertainty or fear while others are passive?  Research has been done to determine why some people appear to be “immune” to learned helplessness.  The answer was found in the concept of Explanatory style.   Explanatory style is how you perceive the world and the events around you.  Formally it is defined as “a psychological attribute that indicates how people explain to themselves why they experience a particular event, either positive or negative. Read the rest of this entry »