Robin Smith, former Chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party and congressional candidate.Back in 1967, research was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology ntitled, “Failure to Escape Traumatic Shock” by Dr. Martin Seligman, that opened the window to a phrase used today, “learned helplessness.
In Seligman’s animal study, he and his team used dogs that were initially prevented from escaping a negative stimulus. Over a period of time, the animals stopped attempting to avoid the adverse exposure. Ultimately, the same canines were then exposed to the same negative stimulus with the freedom to flee, yet, remained.
This body of research has been expanded and modified over several decades to reveal the application to human behavior and its specific relationship to poverty, depression, even organizational and business failure.
In a CBS MoneyWatch article from March 2010 and a February 2013 Chicago Tribune report, Robert Pagliarini noted the excess of books, infomercialsand articles touting the “secret” to get rich. He then posed the question, “So why are so many of us struggling?” with the answer that’s reinforced by Dr. Seligman’s research, “Because we’ve learned to be poor.”
Pagliarini summarized that being poor is “living below your true potential” believing that “no matter how hard you work and how much education you get” the “financial and personal straight-jacket” is your destiny. After a while, the belief that you’ve lost control results in a mindset of resignation and, at its worst, the beginning of a generational cycle.