Individuals with learned helplessness are characterized by their learned inclinations to see that their responses to escape unpleasant situations have no bearings on the outcome. This leads the individuals to hold the expectation that they have no control over the occurrence of the negative stimuli or outcome. Consequently, these individuals adopt a passive, pervasive self-defeating attitude as they fail to unlearn their preconceived mind-sets and relearn new ways to overcome other aversive situations.

The reformulated learned helplessness theory distinguishes between universal versus personal helplessness, global versus specific helplessness, and chronic versus transient helplessness. External attributions are made in universal helplessness, and individuals believe that no one has control over the outcome. In contrast, internal attributions are made in personal helplessness, and individuals believe that other people ...