Performance deficits following failure: learned helplessness or self-esteem protection?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Learned helplessness theory (LHT) posits that repeated failure leads to performance deficits.
• Self-esteem protection theory (SEPT) suggests individuals avoid threats to their self-esteem, especially in public.
• Previous research has not clearly differentiated between these explanations in public vs. private settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the predictive power of LHT and SEPT regarding performance deficits after failure.
• To investigate the moderating role of public vs. private performance conditions on post-failure deficits.

Main Methods:

• Two laboratory experiments were conducted with secondary school pupils (N=40) and university students (N=45).
• Participants experienced success or failure, followed by tasks performed either privately or publicly.
• Performance was assessed using mathematical problems and Raven's Progressive Matrices.

Main Results:

• Failure in the initial phase led to performance deficits in the subsequent tasks.
• These deficits were observed exclusively when participants performed the second-phase tasks in public.
• No significant performance deficits were found when tasks were completed privately after failure.

Conclusions:

• The findings support self-esteem protection theory (SEPT) as a more fitting explanation for performance deficits.
• Results contradict key predictions of learned helplessness theory (LHT).
• Social context (public vs. private) significantly influences how individuals respond to failure.