r/BeAmazed 1d ago

Science Learned Helplessness

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u/Professional_Base708 23h ago

I’m interested to know why the ones who did get the third one after the two impossible ones responded differently to the rest of their group. How were they immune to learned helplessness?

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u/spudmarsupial 21h ago

Personal history, to an extent. If you are given impossible tasks regularily then you get accustomed to being a failure. Narcissists do this to people regularily. Also kids whose parents are inconsistant with rules and punishments.

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u/2Siders 22h ago

Not being funny, they probably put two and two together that this is an exercise about learned helplessness.

They either have already read about this experiment, or knew that “today’s lecture is going to be about…”

Or they just simply got it, either by luck or skill.