Perceived Control as a Mediator of Learned Helplessness

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Abstract
The relationship between perceived locus of control (LOC) and learned helplessness was investigated. In Experiment I, External LOC subjects who had been made unsuccessful on an initial prediction task made fewer correct responses on a subsequent serial-learning task than did both External subjects made successful on the initial task and Internal subjects made unsuccessful (p < .05). Experiment II replicated these results and further demonstrated that the learned helplessness of Externals was largely due to errors of omission, an index of passivity. The second study also showed that the performance differences between groups were not due to differential perceptions of success as a function of LOC. The results were interpreted within the framework of Wortman and Brehm's theory that subjects who expect to have control over a situation initially react to uncontrollability by attempting to assert control, while subjects who do not expect to have control will react to uncontrollability by exhibiting passive, "helpless" behavior.

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