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Effects of an institutional environment on responses to uncontrollable outcomes

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Abstract

Students from two different high schools were compared in a learned helplessness experiment using a yoked triadic design and noncontingent rewards. Students attending a traditional type of school showed a marked performance deficit, whereas students attending a school organized in accordance with an open plan approach showed no effect. Implications of the results for models of human helplessness are discussed.

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Winefield, A.H., Fay, P.M. Effects of an institutional environment on responses to uncontrollable outcomes. Motiv Emot 6, 103–112 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992458

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