Frustration

Part of a series on
Emotions
Affect Classification In animals Emotional intelligence Mood Regulation Interpersonal Dysregulation Valence
Emotions Acceptance Admiration Affection Amusement Anger Angst Anguish Annoyance Anticipation Anxiety Apathy Arousal Awe Belongingness Boredom Confidence Confusion Contempt Contentment Courage Curiosity Depression Desire Determination Disappointment Disgust Distrust Doubt Ecstasy Elevation Embarrassment Emotional Detachment Empathy Enthusiasm Envy Euphoria Faith Fear Frustration Gratification Gratitude Greed Grief Guilt Happiness Hatred Hope Horror Hostility Humiliation Interest Jealousy Joy Kindness Limerence Loneliness Love Lust Nostalgia Outrage Panic Passion Pity Pleasure Pride Rage Regret Rejection Relief Remorse Resentment Sadness Saudade Schadenfreude Self-pity Shame Shock Shyness Social connection Sorrow Suffering Surprise Suspicion Trust Wonder Worry
v t e

In psychology, frustration is a common

Frustration originates from feelings of uncertainty and insecurity which stems from a sense of inability to fulfill needs.[8] If the needs of an individual are blocked, uneasiness and frustration are more likely to occur. When these needs are constantly ignored or unsatisfied, anger, depression, loss of self-confidence,^[9] annoyance, aggression, and sometimes violence are likely to follow.^[10] Needs can be blocked two different ways; internally and externally. Internal blocking happens within an individual's mind, either through lack of ability, confidence, conflicting goals and desires, and/or fears. External blocking happens to an individual outside their control such as physical roadblocks, difficult tasks, or perceived waste of time, especially when those roadblocks or challenges were unexpected, or if the individual expected the goal to be easy to accomplish. Frustration is usually less when an individual expected, or knew beforehand, that the goal would be "challenging."

Some people are predisposed towards feelings of frustration, indexed in terms of temperament in childhood, and neuroticism in adulthood.^{[citation needed]}

Frustration can be classed as a mental health problem–response behavior and can have a number of effects, depending on the mental health of the individual. In positive cases, this frustration will build until a level that is too great for the individual to contain or allow to continue, and thus produce action directed at solving the inherent problem in a disposition that does not cause social or physical harm. In negative cases, however, the individual may perceive the source of frustration to be outside their control, and thus the frustration will continue to build, leading eventually to further problematic behavior (e.g. violent reaction against perceived oppressors or enemies).^[11]

Stubborn refusal to respond to new conditions affecting the goal, such as removal or modification of the barrier, sometimes occurs. As pointed out by J.A.C. Brown, severe punishment may cause individuals to continue non-adaptive behavior blindly: "Either it may have an effect opposite to that of reward and as such, discourage the repetition of the act, or, by functioning as a frustrating agent, it may lead to fixation and the other symptoms of frustration as well. It follows that punishment is a dangerous tool, since it often has effects which are entirely the opposite of those desired".^[12]

Frustration tolerance

Frustration tolerance is one's ability to resist becoming frustrated when facing difficult tasks. Having a low frustration tolerance is related to trait anger and a higher level of frustration tolerance is related to lower levels of anger and longer persistence on difficult tasks.^[13][14] For example, a child with a high frustration tolerance may be able to deal with repeated challenges and failures without experiencing significant frustration. The child with a low frustration tolerance can be quick to experience frustration when asked to perform tasks of moderate difficulty.^[15][16]

See also

• Aggression
• Depression
• Disappointment
• Frustration–aggression hypothesis

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frustration.

• Frustration