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Index/Topics/J.D. Vance's concept of learned helplessness

J.D. Vance's concept of learned helplessness

J.D. Vance's discussion of learned helplessness in his book Hillbilly Elegy and its relation to his personal experiences and academic studies.

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Jan 20, 2026

Which passages in Hillbilly Elegy discuss ‘learned helplessness’ and what sources does Vance cite for that claim?

J.D. Vance explicitly invokes “learned helplessness” in Hillbilly Elegy most notably when contrasting the fatalism of his childhood with the discipline he found in the Marine Corps — a passage repeate...