Paper 2 Terms: Sociocultural Explanations for Depression

Question 1

Martin Seligman’s Learned Helplessness

Answer 1

• Humans learn to become depressed through expectations and experiences.
• He classically conditioned dogs to expect a shock after a bell was rung. Once they learned that, he placed them in a crate divided in two by a hurdle; one hurdle had a shock effect, and the other didn’t. Seligman tested them again in the crate, and the dogs on the shocked side were laid down and accepted the shock.
• Result: people accept and give up soon.

Question 2

Brown and Harris (1978)

Answer 2

• Four vulnerability factors, when combined with acute or chronic social stressors, were likely to provoke depression in women: three or more children under the age of fourteen, lack of an intimate relationship with a partner, lack of employment, and loss of mother before the age of eleven years old.
• Limitation: gender bias; cannot generalize the findings to men.

Question 3

Rosenquist, Fowler, and Christakis (2011)

Answer 3

• People who are friends are more likely to have depression jointly, which is not enough, as depression in one person causes depression in their friends; depressed individuals notice each other and become friends; friends experience similar social and economic environments, which explains their similar symptoms.