Learned helplessness in organizations

Abstract

Problems and aversive situations usually make individuals engage in problem solving activities. Yet some people remain passive and apathetic. They tend to not do anything and quietly suffer the unpleasant consequences of inaction, thereby reflecting maladaptive behavior. Recent research has suggested that “learned helplessness’’ leads to such maladaptive behavior, which in organizational contexts gives rise to performance deficits such as buck passing and lack of persistence at problem solving. Learned helplessness is primarily a cognitive state which emerges after experience where an individual’s actions fail to control desired outcomes. Following such experiences, individuals learn that they are helplessness and make casual attributions to explain their helplessness. Depending on the casual attribution made, an individual might or might not be helpless in different situations or in future. Helpless individuals, in turn, express motivational and emotional deficits. Previous research has demonstrated learned helplessness in laboratory settings. This study sought to empirically verify learned helplessness in organizations. The primary purposes were to construct a reliable scale which parsimoniously measures the cognitive state of learned helplessness, and to test nine hypotheses about the relationship of the cognitive state of learned helplessness with its antecedents, constructs. Further, it attempted to identify demographic and organizational variables closely related to learned helplessness. The study was conducted with two samples, executives and students, to see whether results had generalizability. Three primary scales were developed for the study; they were the learned helplessness scale, the belief of response outcome independence scale (antecedent of learned helplessness), and the emotional and motivational deficit scale (consequences of learned helplessness). In addition to these primary scales, five other scales were administered to the respondents: the IPC scale (locus of control), the Learned Resourcefulness scale (self-control), the Job Satisfaction Scale, the Job Involvement Scale, and a set of questions related to demographic and organizational characteristics. Complete responses were received from 210 executives and 100 students. The study indicated that learned helplessness is prevalent in organizations. The 13 item learned helplessness scale which emerged from the study had adequate reliability, and was multidimensional. Test of hypotheses revealed adequate criterion related concurrent validity and convergent validity. The hypotheses about the relationship between learned helplessness and casual attributions did not have a significant relationship with learned helplessness. Some aspects of the nature of work of executives had significant relationship with learned helplessness. Practical implications of the findings of this study for managers and for future research have been identified.