“How well we envision what is yet to come will determine our motivation” and our hope (Tomasulo, 2020, p. We are left looking to the future, expecting the worst (Tomasulo, 2020). When things go wrong, evolution has given us a switch (metaphorically speaking) that enables us to shut down and save energy. They choose optimism and hope rather than negativity and defeat (Seligman, 2006, 2011). One-third of the human population doesn’t fall into helplessness they believe setbacks are temporary and that they can do something about it. When individuals find there is nothing they can do about a situation, they are at risk of resigning themselves to it. In Martin Seligman’s (2006, 2011) original experiments into learned helplessness, he found that animals, including cockroaches, dogs, rats, and mice, gave up if they repeatedly could not do anything about a bad experience they faced.Īnd so it can be for humans. When an obstacle hits, even if expected, the individual remains blocked, unable to find an alternative route, and accepting the situation - hopeless and helpless (Luthans et al., 2015). On the other hand, learned hopefulness focuses more on what is ahead, unlike depression or learned helplessness, where the individual becomes stuck on a single path, or worse, no path (Tomasulo, 2020). “Hopelessness arises out of a combination of life events and negative thought patterns,” including self-blame and a belief that we cannot change ourselves or our circumstances (Brown, 2021, p. For children, hopefulness is learned from witnessing positive relationships and experiencing boundaries, support, and the sort of consistency that gets them through difficult times (Brown, 2021). Hope is not developed in comfort – during the easy times – but through adversity and discomfort. Persistence – overcoming what gets in our way.And yet, hope is not a vague, fuzzy emotion it is a cognitive process, involving (Brown, 2021): ![]() ![]() ![]() Without it, we sink into hopelessness and despair. “We need hope like we need air,” writes Brené Brown (2021, p. Learned Hopefulness vs Learned Helplessness Ultimately, the points combine and strengthen one another to build and regulate how much hope we have.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |