Some children exhibit a pattern of debilitating behavior characterized as helplessness. Within an achievement context, such children can be observed to initiate few constructive activities, to work with little intensity on those activities already attempted, and to persist at a task only moderately--especially following failure. A stratified…

Bernard Weiner and other motivation researchers have explored what happens to students when they try to explain why they succeed or fail. Causal attributions directly affect motivation and make the difference between helpless and mastery-oriented students. Suggestions are offered to educators to help change the attributions of helpless students…