We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Health

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What is an Explanatory Style?

By Donn Saylor
Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 10,606
Share

Explanatory style is the psychological attribute that involves how individuals explain to themselves the events that happen in their lives. The explanations can be either positive or negative and end up having a profound effect on an individual's personality. The mind states of cynicism, pessimism, and optimism are also greatly impacted by one's explanatory style.

Modern psychology has pinpointed three key aspects of this attribute: personal, permanent, and pervasive. The personal element involves how an individual views the cause of a given event; he may see the event as something completely of his own doing, or as something caused by external stimuli, totally outside of himself. In the permanent aspect of explanatory style, the individual explains to himself the extent of the cause; he could view it as fixed and permanent or as transient and a product of happenstance. The pervasive component entails the extent to which an individual explains to himself the effects of the situation; he may see it as an issue that permeates all issues in his life, or he may see it as a fleeting result of a coincidental cause.

Everyday conversational language contains countless examples of explanatory style. Statements such as "It was all my fault" and "Nothing ever goes my way" are prime examples of pessimistic explanatory style. Phrases like "This too shall pass" and "Easy come, easy go" are illustrations of optimistic explanatory style.

Evidence suggests that pessimistic explanatory style plays a major role in the development of stress, mental illness, and even physical illness. The practice of cognitive therapy seeks to remedy mental issues by changing a patient's negative ways of thinking, often addressing head-on a patient's pessimistic explanatory style. If gone unchecked, pessimism can lead to learned helplessness, a psychological theory in which an individual feels they have no control whatsoever over the outcome of a situation, resulting in depression or other mental illnesses. Conversely, an individual with an optimistic explanatory style can cultivate learned optimism, which entails an individual challenging any negative explanations he gives himself.

Explanatory style is largely a product of an individual's locus of control, a social psychological term meaning how thoroughly an individual believes he controls events that impact him. People who have a high locus of control view the events in their lives as products of their own thinking or behavior. Those with a lower locus of control believe they have no power in the events of their lives and are victims of circumstance.

Share
WiseGeek is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.

Editors' Picks

Discussion Comments
Share
https://www.wisegeek.net/what-is-an-explanatory-style.htm
Copy this link
WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.