learned helplessness

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A psychological state arising after an individual is repeatedly exposed to uncontrollable negative events, leading them to perceive their actions as ineffective in altering their adverse circumstances.

Pronunciation

/ˈlɝnd ˈhɛlplɪsnɪs/

Word forms

learned helplessness

Etymology

From psychological research in the 1960s; details are at Wikipedia.

Related words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.