Learned industriousness is a behaviorally rooted theory developed by Robert Eisenberger to explain the differences in general work effort among people of equivalent ability.
Learned helplessness is a term to explain a specific pattern of behavior that occurs in both animals and humans.
When an animal or human is consistently exposed to an aversive condition (pain, unpleasant noise, etc.)
On a subsequent approval-contingent task, children conditioned by task-contingent verbal approval outperformed controls.
[citation needed] Thus, specific goal-setting strategies are antecedents to effort and subsequently increase the likelihood of an individual 'learning' industriousness.
The investigators tested whether participants' social values (cooperativeness, competitiveness, and individualism) moderate the relationship between goal structure and task persistence.
Similarly, individuals who were classified as "individualists" persisted longer on a competitive goal-structured task than a cooperative one.
Therefore, the investigators conclude that the effect of "cooperative versus competitive goal structures on task persistence are influenced by individuals' social values and history of rewarded effort".
The study conducted by Fisher and Noble also supports this hypothesis, as a significant positive relationship between task difficulty and effort was found.
According to the researchers, this version of the task was so difficult that the participants could not succeed and thus demonstrated a pattern of behaviors similar to learned helplessness.
As predicted by the theory, multiple experimental studies have demonstrated increased effort when paired with reinforcement.
[17] Another similar study found that the secondary effort reinforcement, both positive and negative, is equally transferable to tasks other than the one originally used in the conditioning.
[21] Using a similar training, Eisenberger and Selbst performed a series of experiments looking at whether creativity and divergent thought could be conditioned in the same manner as effort.
[22] Currently the area of study that learned industriousness has been cited in the applied world is smoking and drug cessation research.
In addition, people with low persistence are less likely to produce the high effort behaviors required to quit smoking.
[25] Adding support to Brandon et al.'s hypotheses is a study by Brown, Lejuez, Kahler, & Strong.
[26] Another study by Brandon, Herzog, Juliano, Irvin, Lazev, & Simmons continued the work of the previous two by using a longitudinal perspective.
Although the study was again limited because of its correlational design, the authors suggest that their results fit within the theoretical framework of learned industriousness.
[27] An additional study by Steinberg et al. looking at adolescents and smoking found much of the same results as Brandon et al. Non-smoking adolescents scored higher on a self-reported persistence measure than smokers and smokers who planned on quitting scored higher than those who did not plan on quitting.
Due to the unclear results of Eisenberger's study of a Learned Industriousness-Learned Helplessness Continuum, further research should be done to provide evidence for or against its existence.
[4] Also, the most current smoking-related learned industriousness research has been correlational; experimental studies could not only be powerful evidence for the theory but also generate important practical contributions for smoking cessation therapy.