Learned Helplessness Theory:

Learned helplessness theory describes what happens to people believing they’ve little control over events, resulting from repeated exposure to stressful or uncontrollable situations. This perception of powerlessness can lead to apathy, passivity, pessimism, and a failure to act even when change becomes possible. This phenomenon is linked to vulnerable narcissism, depression, and other negative outcomes. In contrast to the Illusion of control theory, learned helplessness can spread from the original situation to other areas of life. Poor grades despite studying may lead to a belief that effort is futile in all academic endeavors. Individuals attribute their lack of control to causes that are internal (it’s my fault), stable (it’ll always be this way), and global (it affects everything), which leads to negative emotions and outlook. The result is a motivational deficit (failure to try), an emotional deficit (increased stress and anxiety), and an associative deficit (difficulty learning from new, successful experiences).