Martin Seligman’s Positive Psychology and Learned Helplessness

Section II 

Part B: Alternative Theoretical Positions 

Trait theories of psychology emphasize on the role of environmental influence, nurture, as well as biology in personality development. These theories underscore the inimitability of the individual, thereby adopting an idiographic approach; that each person possesses a unique psychological structure and that certain traits are possessed by only one individual. David Buss’s Evolutionary Psychology and Cognitive Affective Personality System by Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda are examples of alternative theories in personality psychology. It is however important to note that as much as these theories in personality psychology strive to explain human behavior, they do so by adopting various approaches. These theories to a large extent vary in terms of key concepts. Martin Seligman for example relates an individual’s behavior or traits to positive influences, for example, optimistic emotions, constructive institutions, and strengths. He affirms in his theory of learned helplessness that behavior can develop as a consequence of exposure to aversive stimuli or rather unpleasant or painful stimuli. Such individuals consequently become unwilling or unable to sidestep succeeding encounters with such stimuli even when they are avoidable ostensibly because the brain has learnt that it does not have much control over the situation (Seligman, 2010 and Maier & Seligman, 1976). According to his understanding, David Buss elucidated that patterns of behavior evolve through natural selection (the same way that physical characteristics evolve). Thanks to natural selection, behaviors that lead to increased reproductive success (adaptive behaviours) are kept and even transmitted from one generation to another. Finally, Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda insist that personality is dependent on situation variables, understanding of the person, and that personality consists of cognitive-affective units. The duo described the latter as the social, psychological, and physiological aspect of people that facilitate stable interaction with their environment (Buss, 2009 and Mischel & Shoda, 1995).

Assessment of the extents to which the alternative theories in personality psychology challenge validity, and highlight the weaknesses and biases of Martin Seligman’s Positive Psychology and Learned Helplessness helps advance this discussion. The cognitive-affective processing system theory to begin with, provides a comprehensive view, accounting for both the variability of behavior as well as the stability in the personality system that is responsible for it. This conceptual strength of the cognitive –affective processing system serves to underline some of the conceptual limitations of positive psychology and learned helplessness. Such limitations include the latter’s positive-only focus, lack of a comprehensive theory, its value-neutral position, as well as the fact that it is based on componential rather than holistic thinking (Miller, 2008). In addition, learned helplessness des not distinguish between cases whose outcomes are uncontrollable for all people as well as cases in which they are uncontrollable only for some people. Furthermore, learned helplessness does not explain when helplessness is specific and when it is general, when it is acute and when it is chronic (Abramson, Seligman & Teasdale, 1978). Evolutionary psychology on its side also underscores some of the weaknesses and biases of Martin Seligman’s positive psychology and learned helplessness. David Buss (2009) described evolutionary psychology as an approach that perceives human nature as the product of a universal set of evolved psychological adaptations to recurring problems in the ancestral environment. It integrates psychology into other natural sciences, rooting it in the organizing theory of biology; thereby, understanding psychology as a branch of biology. Unlike evolutionary psychology, positive psychology and learned helplessness is dominated by positive paradigm, hugely dependent on development of simple and unvalidated measures of complex human phenomenon (Miller, 2008).

` Regardless of the limitations of the positive psychology and learned helplessness, first, positive psychology is nonetheless still a science. Even though occasionally derided as a “pseudoscience,” or “soft science,” it is still considered as a subfield of psychology and that which is based on the scientific method of evaluating theories based on evidence. Christopher Peterson, and Nansook Park emphasized that positive psychology should not be confused with untested self-help, secular religion, or footless affirmation. He added that positive psychology is not a sequel to The Secret and also obviously not a recycled version of the power of positive thinking (Peterson & Park, 2014). The duo went a step further to outline theories and concepts that have resulted from research on positive psychology over time. They stated that for the most part, most people are happy, that happiness is one of the causes of the good things in life, that happiness helps promote more happiness, and that happiness, good social relationships, and character strengths act as buffers during incidences of setbacks and disappointments (Peterson & Park, 2014). Second, the mechanism of learned helplessness is today biologically well-charted. Maier and Seligman stated that passivity in response to shock is not learnt and instead, it is the default and unlearnt response to protracted aversive events meditated by the serotonergic activity of the dorsal raphe nucleus that inhibits escape (Maier & Seligman, 2016).

Part C: Application 

Positive psychology and learned helplessness are applicable to a variety of phenomenon. An example of positive psychology in practice is well-being therapy. Well-being therapy seeks to promote recovery from depression and other affective disorders by having the victims focus on and also promote the positive while at the same time striving to eliminate the negative aspects of life (“Positive psychology in practice,” 2008). Well-being therapy works in the same fashion as cognitive behavioural theory. A patient is required to identify and record the positive events that they encounter on a daily basis. The patient is then required to identify the negative beliefs and thoughts that occasionally disrupt the positive events (“Positive psychology in practice,” 2008). Learned helplessness on its side, is applicable to various phenomena such as depression and disease susceptibility. Regarding the former, this is what Mohanty, Pradhan, and Jena (2015) had to say. The trio narrated that cognitive, motivational, self-esteem, and affective deficits are associated with depression. Internal attributions for bad events are also associated with depressive symptoms. According to the learned helplessness model of depression, the core depressive cognition is the expectation that outcome and one’s response will be independent of each other.

Advancing the discussion above, it is important to explore various solutions with the potential of addressing the above mentioned phenomena (well-being and depression). According to a Harvard medical school publishing, promoting a patient’s well-being through well-being therapy involves striving for personal growth, identification of purpose in life, autonomy, mastery of one’s environment, having positive relationships, and self-acceptance (“Positive psychology in practice,” 2008). On the same note, Mohanty, Pradhan, and Jena (2015) talked about how to address depression. They cited goal setting, focusing more on the on the early stages of learning, reframing negative situations, and adoption of optimistic explanatory style.

Finally, it is important to investigate how the application of positive psychology and learned helplessness demonstrate the theory’s potential to advance knowledge in personality psychology. The application of the theory in phenomena such as well-being therapy and depression focuses on the positive events and influences in an individual’s life and how thy help shape personality/behavior. Such events and influences include positive states and traits, positive institutions, and positive experiences. Positive psychology and learned helplessness mainly emphasizes on these topics, thereby helping in creation of an understanding of how people flourish and live their best lives.

References

Abramson, L.Y., Seligman, M.E., & Teasdale, J.D. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87 (1), 49-74.

Buss, D.M. (2009). How can evolutionary psychology successfully explain personality and individual differences? Perspectives of Psychological Science, 4 (4), 359-366. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01138.x 

Maier, S.F., & Seligman, M.E. (2016). Learned helplessness at fifty: insights from neuroscience. Psychological Review, 123 (4), 349-367. doi: 10.1037/rev0000033

Maier, S. F., & Seligman, M. E. (1976). Learned helplessness: Theory and evidence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 105 (1), 3–46.

Miller, A. (2008). A critique of positive psychology-or ‘the new science of happiness.’ Journal of Philosophy of Education, 42 (3-4), 591-608. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9752.2008.00646.x

Mischel, W., & Shoda, Y. (1995). A cognitive-affective system theory of personality: Reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure. Psychological Review, 102 (2), 246–268.

Mohanty, A., Pradhan, R.K., & Jena, L.K. (2015). Learned helplessness and socialization:

a reflective analysis. Psychology, 6 , 885-895. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/psych.2015.67087

Peterson, C., & Park, N. (2014). Meaning and positive psychology. International Journal of Existential Psychology & Psychotherapy, 5 (1), 2-8.

Positive psychology in practice. (2008). Harvard Health Publishing. Retrieved February 8, 2019 from https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/positive_psychology_in_practice 

Seligman, M. (2010). Flourish: Positive psychology and positive interventions. The Tanner Lectures on Human Values. Retrieved February 8, 2019 from https://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/s/Seligman_10.pdf