Final answer:
Clients may develop pessimism and hopelessness through maladaptive attributional styles and environmental stressors. Internal, stable, and global negative attributions can foster learned helplessness, leading to depression. However, altering attribution habits can potentially mitigate these effects.
Step-by-step explanation:
Factors that can lead a client to develop a pattern that contributes to a pessimistic belief system and hopelessness include maladaptive attributional styles as described by Seligman's learned helplessness model.
Attributions and Learned Helplessness
When individuals consistently make internal, stable, and global attributions for adverse events, they may develop learned helplessness. An internal attribution might involve blaming oneself for bad outcomes ("I'm just not smart"). A stable attribution suggests the cause of these outcomes is unchanging ("Nothing can be done to change that I'm not smart"). Global attributions extend this belief to all areas of life ("This means I'm bad at everything"). Such patterns can lead to a perception of uncontrollability and the potential onset of depression.
Environmental factors can also contribute to a pessimistic outlook. For instance, little positive feedback from jobs, unsafe work environments, frustration with bureaucracy, and a sense of personal responsibility without relief can foster an individual's belief in their powerlessness, thereby enhancing feelings of hopelessness and further entrenching pessimistic views.
It's critical to note that attribution habits can be altered through practice, suggesting that interventions focused on changing attribution styles may prevent or reduce the impact of pessimism and hopelessness.