Mahfi Eğilmez: Learned Helplessness Weakens the Will for Social Struggle

Learned Helplessness and Its Social Impacts Economist Mahfi Eğilmez stated in his analysis that the concept of "learned helplessness" is not limited to individual psychology but provides a critical framework for explaining economic and political behavioral patterns.
Eğilmez emphasized that accepting the outcome in advance in the face of repeated failures gradually erodes the determination of both the individual and society to struggle.
This concept, which entered psychology literature through the work of Martin Seligman, is defined as the loss of the individual's desire to try and struggle in the face of situations they believe they cannot control.
According to Eğilmez, individuals who fail despite continuous efforts and believe they cannot change this situation accept the result from the beginning and stop putting in effort.
Resorting to External Factors and Avoiding Responsibility In his article, Eğilmez gave examples from student-teacher and employee-manager relationships, drawing attention to the dangers of systematically attributing the cause of failure to external factors.
He stated that a student stopping studying by saying "the teacher is picking on me" or an employee lowering their performance by blaming their manager creates results that confirm the initial negative belief.
Eğilmez acknowledged that while external obstacles can be real in some cases, the main problem is the individual ignoring their own sphere of influence.
He pointed out that this situation eliminates the will and the rational ground for discussion required for the solution of problems, ultimately weakening the collective capacity for progress.