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Learned Helplessness

'Learned helplessness' refers to 'the feeling that no amount of effort can lead to success' (Eggen & Kauchak, 1999, p. 412).

People may feel powerless and ineffective in certain circumstances. If this feeling is generalised to new circumstances, then people may exhibit learned helplessness (McInerney & McInerney, 1998). Learned helplessness leads to shame and self-doubt, with the eventual result that people give up without even trying. Repeated failure at a task can lead to learned helplessness. One solution is to design environments that provide people with opportunities for success. Another solution is to explicitly instruct people about the causes of success and failure. Effort and persistence, rather than natural ability, is an important determinant of success.

Related topics can be found at:
Attributing the Cause of Events
Beliefs About Success and Failure

References
Eggen, P. & Kauchak, D. (1999). Educational psychology: Windows on classrooms. (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

McInerney, D. M. & McInerney, V. (1998). Educational psychology. (2nd ed.). Sydney, Australia: Prentice Hall.