In the textbook there is a section about learned helplessness. I'm sure many of us have heard about this term in other classes, it occurs when a person believes they have no control in a situation. This concept can be applied to being poor. In the article "Learned Helplessness: The Secret to Being Poor" it talks about how people living in lower economic statuses believe they are not able to improve their status no matter what they do or how hard they work. These people learn helplessness in this situation. The article goes on to give a few suggestions on how to create more control your life to help break the cycle of learned helplessness. The five suggestions are:
- Embrace Change
- Get perspective
- Set goals
- Achieve success
- Consider a different viewpoint
I think that it is interesting that one suggestion is to set goals, like we talked about a few weeks ago. A person who sets goals and creates a plan will more likely complete their goal. Do you believe that these five suggestions would actually work to help improve a person's status and to break learned helplessness?
Article:
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/career-advice/blog/other-8-hours/the-secret-to-being-poor/1288/
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