Learned Helplessness and Mastery Orientation: the contribution of personality traits and academic beliefs

The present study examined the contribution of personality traits and academic beliefs (e.g. school self-efficacy, quality of life as a student) that may exert a role in predicting mastery orientation (MO) and learned helplessness (LH). The sample consisted of 196 students (111 males, 85 females) from a middle school (M age = 12.22; SD = .98) in the city of Messina in Sicily, Italy. Results show that the traits of conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience, and agreeableness correlate positively with high school self-efficacy, quality of life as a student, and MO, whereas they correlate negatively with LH. The trait of emotional instability correlates positively with LH and negatively with school self-efficacy, quality of life as a student, and MO. In addition, regression analyses showed that personality traits and academic beliefs (in particular, school self-efficacy) play an important role in explaining helpless behavior and mastery-oriented behavior. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.