Abstract
The learned helplessness model of depression predicts that the symptoms of depression should be exhibited by persons subjected to a helplessness pretreatment. Yet most studies of learned helplessness investigate similarities of helpless and naturally depressed subjects on cognitive tasks. This study examined a prominent behavioral symptom of depression: self-punishment. Five groups of male subjects (total n = 40) were placed in a two-person interaction situation in which they received periodic blasts of noise from a partner (experimental confederate). On each interchange, subjects could choose among three responses (noise to partner, friendly gesture to partner, or noise to self). During the middle phase of the procedure, the confederate's behavior was arranged to reinforce 90% of the self-punitive responses made by the subject. Results provided support for the learned helplessness model of depression. Depressed and noncontingently reinforced (helpless) subjects showed a greater preference for self-punitive responses to aggression than nondepressed—nonanxious, anxious, and contingently reinforced subjects. Results are discussed in terms of arousal reduction, depressive attributional style, and the distinction between primary and secondary control.
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