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Abstract
The reformulated model of learned helplessness suggests that the tendency to explain the causation for bad events as due to internal, stable, and global causes can lead to increased levels of depression and, in the work setting, lowered levels of productivity. A Life Event Analysis Form (LEAF) was developed depicting 12 hypothetical bad events which might be experienced by adult life insurance agents. In two pilot studies using college students, the LEAF scores correlated positively with selected bad events from the original ASQ but did not correlate with depression or self-esteem. In the agent study, LEAF scores failed to correlate with productivity measures across participating companies. However, LEAF scores did correlate with new life commissions earned for Company 1 when the companies were analyzed individually. For this company, LEAF subscale analysis indicated significant correlations between stability and globality but not for internality. Also, agents scoring in the top half of composite LEAF scores, indicating attributional styles which were more external/unstable/specific, received 59% greater commissions than those in the bottom half. Career Profile (CP) scores, a commonly used measure by life insurance companies, also failed to correlate with production across companies but did correlate with new life commissions and new lives written for one company. Thus, while LEAF and CP scores may have some usefulness in predicting productivity among life insurance agents, their results were not found to be consistent for all participating companies.
