The Interrelation Between Culturally Learned Helplessness and Economic Underdevelopment

Abstract

This article offers insights into the interrelationship between culturally learned helplessness and economic underdevelopment. It is argued that the concept of learned helplessness offers noteworthy insights into the nature of economic underdevelopment, particularly in less developed countries where or if it has become a cultural phenomenon. This reasoning is based on a rationality that is spatially bounded and intrinsically connected to the nature, source and evolution of social and cultural norms. It is concluded that the integration of learned helplessness (or a behavioural theory in general) into the field of economic development offers significant potential for exploring and explaining long-term evolutionary patterns of development.

Keywords

• economic development
• learned helplessness
• underdevelopment
• culture
• poverty
• economic development
• learned helplessness
• underdevelopment
• culture
• poverty