PSYCHOLOGICAL IDEAS

Learned Helplessness | Old School

A lovely illustration of “learned helplessness”, a term coined by Martin Seligman in 1967. Originating in animal studies, the concept describes how we stop trying to escape a painful situation if we have learned that there is nothing we can do about altering the outcome. Even if we are at a later point able to end the awful situation, we continue with the learned pattern because it has become ingrained within ourselves.

We see this principle reflected in abusive relationships where the abused party does not leave the abuser. Previous attempts to terminate the relationship have often failed, perhaps because the abuser is cunning and manipulative, and the abused person gives up on trying to end the toxic partnership. 

Learned Helplessness | Contemporary

This short clip illustrates the transposition of past experiences into the present. These past experiences may develop into unconscious patterns and result in the repeating of negative experiences.

Is Human Nature Fundamentally Evil?

The existence of a destructive quality to humanity is unquestionable. For example, we can be selfish, deliberately hurtful, and vindictive. At the same time, we are able to demonstrate empathy, morality, and the ability to practice self-control. Freud referred to this as the tension between the life instinct and destructive impulses. The management of these tensions requires an improved ability to understand the mental states of ourselves and others, while improving the ability to regulate destructive impulses.

Can You Ever Fully Know Yourself?

Understanding our psychological dynamics, defences, personality attributes, and relationship patterns contribute towards a richer life. This is no easy task though, and it is made even more difficult if we accept that there are unconscious processes operating within ourselves. For example, suffering from commitment phobia may be linked to an unconscious fear of being hurt by those close to you, which, in turn, might relate to early childhood experiences of feeling unsafe and vulnerable. Ways to identify unconscious dynamics include paying attention to repeated personal and relational patterns, frustrations, idealizations, and dreams.

Developing Grit

Two factors have been identified as playing a role in success (success being defined as the accomplishment of an aim). These are intelligence and conscientiousness. Intelligence is largely determined by heredity, which means that one has limited ability, if any, to improve this attribute. Conscientiousness, on the other hand, can be developed and includes the following three qualities: passion, perseverance, and self-control. This means that most of us can make a success of our lives even if we do not have exceptional levels of intelligence.

The Facebook Self

Psychology has long been interested in the way that we construct the notion of Self. Simply put, the Self can be viewed as the narrative which we create of ourselves. For example, we may develop a story of the Self as a tragic figure, a martyr, or as a failure. Prior to the development of modern technology, we largely constructed our particular narrative in the mind. The arrival of Facebook and Instagram have added another layer of complexity. We are now able to out-source the construction of Self and to carefully build it as we see fit. Objective reality is, more often than not, lost in favour of depicting halcyon days. The true Self becomes less visible and more difficult to access.