GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE FACTORS AFFECTING HELPLESS BEHAVIOR AND PERFORMANCE

This study used a laboratory experiment with data collected from 84 un dergraduate business students to examine the impact of sex, sex-role i dentity, sex of experimenter, and quality of information on helpless b ehavior and performance. Although no sex differences were found, resul ts showed sex-role identity differences in learned helplessness and pe rformance. Specifically, when participants were most helpless, androgy nous and undifferentiated participants performed at the highest levels . Less helplessness was also experienced when participants were paired with a male experimenter. Consistent with prior research, males tende d to make external attributions for failure while females tended to ma ke internal and stable ones. The practical implications of these findi ngs are considered.