Effect of Culture and Gender on Learned Helplessness among Adolescents

Abstract

The present study examined the impact of culture and gender on learned helplessness among adolescent students. Male and Female adolescent student from different culture i.e. Tribal and non-tribal culture constituted the sample for the study (Total sample was 400), 200 males from tribal and non-tribal areas and 200 females from tribal and non-tribal areas 100 students from each category. The CASQ was used to measure learned helplessness. The result of 2x2 ANOVA reveal significant interaction effects of culture and gender on learned helplessness. The males of non-tribal and females of tribal culture show high learned helplessness than males of tribal and females of non-tribal culture. Attribution analysis of male and female adolescents with respect to culture reveal that high percentage of non-tribal females(51.62%) and males(50.50%) show internal attributions in comparison to tribal female(46.37%) and male (40.75%) adolescent. The obtained results indicate that non-tribal students show higher level of personal helplessness than the tribal students.