After graduating from law school, Kayla failed the bar exam the first time around, but received the job offer she wanted. Her classmates passed the bar exam, but many remained unemployed 6 months later. Kayla viewed her job offer as a fluke but felt that the failure on the bar exam accurately reflected her true abilities. According to Seligman et al. (1979), Kayla would be most likely to suf fer from which psychological disorder?

Question

After graduating from law school, Kayla failed the bar exam the first time around, but received the job offer she wanted. Her classmates passed the bar exam, but many remained unemployed 6 months later. Kayla viewed her job offer as a fluke but felt that the failure on the bar exam accurately reflected her true abilities. According to Seligman et al. (1979), Kayla would be most likely to suf  fer from which psychological disorder?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Kayla's tendency to attribute her success to external factors (a fluke) and her failure to internal factors (her true abilities) is indicative of a negative attributional style, which is associated with depression according to Seligman et al.'s theory of learned helplessness.

After Graduating from Law School, Kayla Failed the Bar Exam