Helplessness and Self-Blame Attributions in Depression: Investigation of one Possible Resolution of This Paradox among College Students in Taiwan

憂鬱者無助和自責之“憂鬱矛盾現象”：一個解決此矛盾現象的可能途徑之研究

吳麗娟(Li-Chuan Wu)

《教育心理學報》 28期 (1996/09) Pp. 251-283

https://doi.org/10.6251/BEP.19960901.10

摘要

憂鬱者常有「憂鬱矛盾現象」(depression paradox)－覺得無助又自責；一方面他們有強烈的無助感，相信自己對事物沒有影響力，另一方面又認爲自己有很大的影響力，因爲一切困擾都是他們引起的。在文獻中，Seligman的憂鬱無助論和Beck的憂鬱認知論，亦形成理論上的矛盾。本研究的目的乃運用Janoff-Bulman的自責歸因理論(self-blame attributions)來驗證此矛盾現象。Janoff-Bulman認爲自責有兩種：個性自責(characterological self-blame)和行爲自責(behavioral self-blame)，且唯有「個性自責」才會引起憂鬱、無助，而行爲自責則是較具建設性的自責方式。
本研究的研究對象係取自國立台灣師範大學，依年級、學院別分層隨機取樣1000位學生，以Beck的憂鬱量表及自行修訂的歸因型態問卷㈠（測無助感）、歸因型態問卷㈡（測自責）爲評量工具，所得資料分別以積差相關和階層迴歸分析進行處理。本研究的主要發現如下：㈠自責和無助感均與憂鬱呈現顯著正相關。此結果支持Seligman無助論和Beck認知論，同時也支持「憂鬱矛盾現象」的存在性。㈡個性自責與憂鬱、無助感之間皆呈現顯著正相關，然而，行爲自責與憂鬱、無助感亦均呈現顯著正相關。前者的結果支持Janoff-Bulman的自責歸因理論，但是後者的結果與其理論不符。㈢探索性的迴歸分析發現無助感和個性自責均可顯著預測憂鬱的傾向，且各自均有5%的獨特的解釋變異量。然而，行爲自責所能解釋憂鬱的部分則微乎其微。此外，憂鬱和個性自責均可顯著預測無助感，其獨特的解釋變異量分別是5%和4%。然而，行爲自責在獨立解釋無助感的變異量也十分微小。㈣本研究的結果支持個性自責、無助感與憂鬱的關係，但並未發現行爲自責獨立存在的事實，需要再作進一步的研究探討。最後，研究者根據上述研究結果、研究限制、輔導之應用和未來研究的方向等四方面，進行進一步的討論並提出建議，以供未來研究之參考。

並列摘要

Depressed persons often feel helpless to change their environment, and at the same time blame themselves for being the cause of misfortune. Paradoxically, they believe they have no effect on events, and in another sense they believe they have powerful effects. The purpose of this study was to examine a resolution of this paradox offered by Janoff-Bulman's model of self-blame attributions for depression which distinguishes between ”behavioral self-blame” and ”characterological self-blame”. In this study, college students in Taiwan were administered three Chinese versions of instruments, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Attributional Style Questionnaire－a measure of helplessness, and the Self-Blame Scale. Of 1443 students who returned surveys, a stratified sample of1000 participants was analyzed.
Six research hypotheses were derived from Janoff-Bulman's model. Correlational evidence supported four of the six. Both general self-blame and helplessness were significantly positively correlated with depression. These findings support both Beck's and Seligman's models of depression, and support the existence of the paradox of belief in which depressed persons feel both helpless and self-blame about the same event.
As predicted by Janoff-Bulman's model, characterological self-blame was significantly correlated with depression and helplessness. However, contrary to predictions, behavioral self-blame was also significantly positively correlated with depression and helplessness. Thus, findings of this study supported Janoff-Bulman's model of self-blame with regard to assumptions about characterological self-blame, but not with regard to assumptions about behavioral self-blame.
Additional exploratory multiple-regression analyses found that helplessness and characterological self-blame were significant predictors of depression. Each uniquely predicted about 5% of the variance in depression. However, behavioral self-blame accounted for only a trivial amount of unique variance. Additionally, depression and characterological self-blame were significant predictors of helplessness, uniquely explaining 5% and 4% of the variance, respectively. Again, behavioral self-blame accounted for only a trivial amount of unique variance. Results of this study provide support for an association between characterological self-blame, helplessness, and depression. Implications and limitations of these findings, as well as suggestions for further research are discussed.

並列關鍵字

helplessness ； self-blame ； attribution ； depression ； resolution of the paradox