Final answer:
Attributing a lack of achievement to 'Bad Luck' can be linked to attribution theory, where individuals interpret events based on internal or external factors. This mindset can affect mental health and achievement. Understanding and changing attribution habits can help in building resilience against negative outcomes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The idea that "Bad Luck" is a convenient scapegoat for a lack of achievement is a psychological tendency tied to attribution theory, which examines how individuals explain events and their outcomes. For instance, purchasing lottery tickets for years with no success and attributing this to being 'due to win' is a misunderstanding of probabilistic events, and it indicates a belief that success should eventually come as a result of prior failures, despite the independent nature of each chance event.
Viewing outcomes as beyond one's control, and attributing events to luck, fate, or other people, can lead to a passive mindset, impacting how one responds to life's challenges. A simile comparing Black men to falling stars illustrates the idea of external factors limiting the visibility of one's potential, whereas President Jimmy Carter's quote acknowledges the role of external attributions in over-crediting or over-blaming outcomes. Likewise, scientific insight into genetic mutations suggests that what could be labeled as 'mistakes' could inadvertently result in positive changes, offering a natural analogy for serendipitous success from unexpected origins.
It's essential to realize that attributions can impact mental health, as demonstrated by Seligman's reformulated theory of learned helplessness and depression. Internal, stable, and global attributions for negative events can lead to a sense of powerlessness and potential depression, highlighting the importance of fostering healthier attribution habits to build resilience against such psychological impacts.