Learned helplessness and social desirability in education: A systematic review of psychometric instruments
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Abstract
Learned helplessness is a relevant construct for understanding demotivation, academic avoidance, and students’ perceived lack of control after repeated experiences of failure or low academic efficacy. However, its measurement in educational contexts poses methodological challenges related to the diversity of available instruments and the potential influence of social desirability bias in self-report measures. The objective of this article was to analyze the psychometric properties and strategies for controlling social desirability bias reported in instruments used to measure learned helplessness in educational contexts. A systematic review article was conducted to identify, select, and analyze empirical studies that used scales, questionnaires, inventories, or behavioral measures applied to student populations. The analysis focused on the characteristics of the instruments, evidence of reliability and validity, and procedures used to control response biases. The findings show that most studies used self-report instruments with acceptable psychometric properties, particularly regarding internal consistency, factor analysis, and cultural adaptation. Nevertheless, the specific control of social desirability bias was limited, with procedural strategies such as anonymity, informed consent, and voluntary participation being the most frequent. Only a smaller group of studies incorporated teacher reports, behavioral tasks, time-lagged designs, or common method bias tests. It is concluded that the assessment of learned helplessness in education requires stronger comprehensive psychometric validation and the adoption of multimethod approaches that reduce exclusive dependence on self-report measures. This would improve the accuracy, validity, and applied usefulness of instruments designed to evaluate learned helplessness in student populations
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