Almost 60 years ago, researchers found that exposing dogs to inescapable electric shocks in one context led them to fail to avoid electric shocks in other situations where escape was possible. This experiment generated the infamous theory of learned helplessness, introduced in 1967 by psychologists Dr. Martin Seligman and Dr. Steven Maier. In modern application, the theory of learned helplessness remains relevant and reveals a rather sobering insight about the human experience: when individuals are exposed to adverse events that they have no control over, they develop a pervasive belief in their own perceived powerlessness that, regardless of the situation, leads them to act out a state of passivity. Even when opportunities for change present themselves, people stop trying to change their circumstances. Over extended periods of time, the “why bother” experience can lead to feelings of despair or depression.
Learned helplessness is not just a phenomenon experienced by animals, or parents indulging their children with too much support, it is also rampant in work settings. Ron Ashkenas, co-author of the Harvard Business Review Leader’s Handbook, recounts numerous examples of how leaders remain imprisoned by walls of their own creation. He urges leaders to discern between what constraints must be accepted and those that can be challenged. What regulations, legislations, approval processes, and standing meetings do employees believe they are beholden to when in fact, these may be circumstances where novel outcomes could be imagined if only one were to take the time to use their imagination?
When we find ourselves stuck in a moment of adversity, we have access to two general types of coping strategies: those that modify the external stressor and those that modify our internal psychological state. Recent research by Dr. Chi-Ah Chun and colleagues found that in the West, where individualistic cultural values are more salient, external coping methods are more common and are often considered more adaptive than internal methods, which are utilized more often in collectivistic cultures. The trouble with believing that changing one’s circumstances is the only way to cope is that in those situations where we truly may not be able to control the external world, many will default to cynicism and despair without going inward. Remembering that reappraising the meaning of a situation, or giving oneself space to feel and release difficult emotions, can bring about enormous relief is a useful tool to have when breaking out of the psychological cage that rigid situations can create.
There are countless circumstances where old habits and beliefs compel us to behave as if we have no other choice when in fact, more agency is available to us. Consider, for example, a final important arena of helplessness that highly conscientious individuals might benefit from paying more attention to: the “Should Zone”.
The Should Zone’s stronghold on authenticity and values-driven life choices is managed by what Dr. Martha Beck refers to in Finding Your Own North Star as the “social self”. Your social self tells you who you need to be and what you have to do in order to be approved of in your particular social circles. The social self is avoidance-based, conforming, imitative, predictable, planned, and hardworking. It is polite, but it is rarely authentic (and dutifully wears compliance everyday like an itchy scarf).
To push back on some of the boundaries of the Should Zone, consider these two insights:
- Make time to recover. After a day (or many days) where your schedule has not offered you the luxury of space and control, make recovery a priority. Not surprisingly, high-duty and emotionally draining tasks (and people) drive fatigue and limit recovery. Dr. Leike ten Brummelhuis and Dr. John Trougakos, two leading researchers on recovery, found that engaging intrinsically (vs. extrinsically) motivated recovery activities report higher levels of recovery.
- Attune and tend to your own needs. Dr. Neil Rosenberg, creator of Nonviolent Communication, argues that learning to communicate in a manner that gets one’s universal needs met is an essential skill for all humanity. Autonomy, for example, is a universal need represented by choice, dignity, freedom, independence, self-expression, space and spontaneity. Being able to create circumstances where you can help yourself expands the limits of learned helplessness so if you are more apt to take care of others rather than yourself, it might be time to identify what you need and value in order to be well.
For leaders and employees noticing that their day would benefit from more agency and autonomy, even making the choice to do something you hate for five fewer minutes may allow you to make space to reconnect to what’s possible.