FRUSTRATION - what is it? Signs and Causes of Frustration

This article was developed under the heading: Psychology.

Section: Processes.

In the modern world, with a fast pace of life, we are often faced with a state when a feeling of dissatisfaction arises when it is impossible to achieve some result. Everything is falling out of hand, the number of tasks is growing. We begin to feel a wide range of emotions and experiences - anger, anger, disappointment, irritation, guilt. This state is defined as frustration. Are you familiar with this condition? Does it make you anxious? Let's figure out what it is, how you can fight it, and how you can help yourself.

Frustration is a common phenomenon for modern man

What is frustration?

Every person on earth has goals, plans and dreams. And in life, many people have situations when something conceived or planned does not work out. In such cases, psychologists use the term frustration, what it means becomes clear from the literal translation of the term. The concept comes from the Latin frustratio, which literally means “deception,” “frustration of plans,” or “vain expectation.”

That is, frustration is a state of human consciousness that occurs when there is a real or imagined impossibility of satisfying certain needs. They talk about it when desires do not correspond to possibilities, real, imaginary or accomplished obstacles arise to their fulfillment. In this case, the individual experiences anxiety, disappointment, irritation, depression or despair, but does not give up his goals and continues to fight for them.

Examples of frustration

It has already been said above that emotional frustration is a natural reaction of the human psyche to certain circumstances that interfere with the implementation of plans. In normal everyday life, examples of this mental state can be seen everywhere:

Signs of frustration

1. A person whose alarm clock does not go off becomes frustrated. Because of this, he wakes up later than usual, does not have time to do what he planned in the morning and, for example, is late for work.
2. We can talk about frustration when a computer program runs with errors and does not save the results of an employee’s many hours of work.
3. The concept of frustration can also be seen when spouses quarrel over plans for a joint weekend. The husband wanted to fix the car, while the wife needed to go with him to the mall for shopping and the plans of both partners collapsed.

Scientists believe that frustration in psychology is one of the most common conditions. Depending on the structure of the individual’s psyche, frustration can manifest itself in the following signs:

1. Excessive anxiety about both real and imaginary problems.
2. Feeling overwhelmed by little things.
3. A feeling of hopelessness and despair in the current living conditions.
4. The conviction that the situation is hopeless and that the problem cannot be solved on one’s own.
5. Irritation and aggression directed both at the environment and at the person himself (auto-aggression).
6. Some people, demonstrating what frustration is, begin to behave unconstructively: they withdraw into themselves, refuse to act to change circumstances, and so on.
7. In extreme forms it can be expressed in apathy, self-destruction, and complexes.

See also: Sensory cognition - what is it

Correction methods

In order to understand what frustration is, it is not necessary to know the definition. It is enough to imagine the features of this condition. It is dangerous if prolonged. Experts identify several methods of disposal.

Replacing funds

Sometimes a person is prevented from achieving a goal by the wrong road. In this case, he needs to analyze his behavior and think about whether he has chosen the right path.

It is useful to develop a consistent action plan

You can't always succeed the first time, that's normal. You need to be able to stop in time and think about your actions.

Replacement target

Sometimes a person misjudges the sequence of work. In this case, he immediately sets himself an unattainable level of goal. Therefore, you need to think about the stages and sequence of actions, and then set a simpler goal.

A simple example: a person takes up sports and in a year wants to get to the Olympics. This cannot be done, but you can set a goal in the form of receiving a discharge.

Reassessment of the situation

The concept of “frustration” is considered in psychology from the point of view of dissatisfaction. But a person does not always understand where his desires are and where those are imposed by society. Therefore, it is important to be able to reflect and separate true needs from false ones. If a goal is imposed by society, but the individual himself does not need it, then there is no point in talking about dissatisfaction.

Causes of frustration

It was already mentioned above that frustration arises in a situation of dissatisfaction of certain needs and desires. It is customary to identify several main reasons for this combination of circumstances:

1. Privation , or deprivation of the desired goal from the beginning, that is, impossibility due to a number of objective reasons. For example, a prisoner dreams of conquering Everest, but will not be able to be released soon. Or a short person wants to become a basketball star and others.
2. Deprivation , or loss of real or imagined opportunities. For example, a person lost his sight in a car accident and cannot paint. Another example is when, after several years of hard work, an employee’s colleague receives a promotion, although the individual himself expected to take a vacant position with a higher salary.
3. Conflict , as a result of which certain desires and dreams are mutually exclusive. For example, a teenager falls in love with a girl and dreams of spending his whole life with her. However, in the course of the relationship, quarrels arise and the vision that this is not the most suitable candidate for a spouse.

From a neurophysiological point of view

Some studies have shown that frustrating and equally dangerous events can trigger feelings of aggression. This is based on the fact that one of our neural systems is responsible for executing basic responses to threat. It so happens that one of the main responses of this system is aggression. The signal sending this emotion travels from the amygdala to the hypothalamus and finally arrives at the periacoustic gray matter. More detailed research shows that when someone is threatened or upset by certain stimuli, parts of our frontal cortex, such as the orbital, medial and ventrolateral frontal cortex, work in tandem with our threat response system located in the amygdala-hypothalamus. Simply put, threatening events generate more action options in the frontal cortex, which are then transmitted to the amygdala-hypothalamus. It is in this basic threat response system that decisions about what response to make are made and are based on information received from areas of the frontal cortex.

As mentioned, there are different degrees and responses that can occur in an animal as a result of a frustrating event. This does not interfere with the underlying circuitry at the neuronal level and simply means that certain stimuli generate more action possibilities than others, and therefore generate stronger responses as well. It is for this reason that animals display a hierarchy of responses at the beginning of an upsetting event. For example, when low levels of threat are perceived, the threat response system induces torpor in the animal. Closer threat objects generate the act of fleeing from its environment, and finally, when the source of the threat is so close that escape is no longer an option, the threat circuit system will produce reactive aggression in the animal. This means that the more we are affected by an irritating stimulus, the more likely it is that our basic response systems will be activated and thus lead to certain behavior accordingly.

Additionally, some studies have shown that people with increased sensitivity to disorders showed greater activity in these brain regions (amygdala-hypothalamus) in response to frustrating events compared to those with less sensitivity. This study shows that people who are more easily upset than others show more activity in the frontal cortex due to activity in the amygdala-hypothalamus, a system that causes us to act aggressively given a strong enough stimulus. And only an experienced psychologist will understand that this is frustration, and not banal anger or rage.

How is frustration different from deprivation?

In psychology, the state of frustration is considered akin to another concept - deprivation. This is the name given to a severe, painful and personally destructive state of prolonged deprivation of desired goals, benefits, etc. That is, frustration and deprivation are different:

1. Duration . A person becomes frustrated situationally, when they speak of a state of deprivation as a result of prolonged stress.
2. The depth of the impact on the psyche . Experienced psychologists and psychotherapists are involved in the treatment of deprivation, because in this case deep-seated processes of destruction of the individual’s psyche can occur. Frustration is considered a natural reaction of the body, which a generally mentally healthy person can easily cope with on his own.
3. Having what you want . When you lose certain benefits: money, respect, communication, travel, they say that this is frustration. A person is in a state of deprivation when he never had what he wanted.

Examples from life

To make it clear what frustration is and how it can vary in the degree of impact on a person, we will give two specific examples.

Example 1

Andrei Ivanovich was looking forward to watching the World Cup final, where his favorite team qualified. Since the show started at 5 p.m., he asked management to leave work two hours early, and not without difficulty, with a promise to work it on the day off.

On the day of the final, Andrei was in high spirits; at 16:00 he ordered a taxi and went to the supermarket closest to his house for a drink and a snack. There were traffic jams on the roads, but everything worked out well; the car reached the store in 15 minutes.

The man bought his favorite Kruger beer, dried squid, salted cheese, dried shrimp and went to pay. There was a line at the checkout, Andrey was noticeably nervous, and managed to leave the market only at 16:40. Having run to the apartment, Andrei Ivanovich managed to undress, change into slippers, set the table and sit comfortably in an easy chair.

At 16:55 he turned on the TV, drank a glass of beer with pleasure, snacked on a juicy shrimp, and poured a second glass. Commands appeared on the screen, the judge gave the go-ahead... and a planned power outage occurred in the house.

Example 2

Lena is a beautiful and bright girl with a higher education, works as an economist at a bank and has a decent income. But it so happened that by the age of 32 she was not yet married, although she really dreamed of a family and wanted to have a baby.

One day her car broke down right on the road; the girl was unable to fix the problem on her own. Fortunately, a few minutes later, a car stopped nearby and “He,” the man of her dreams, came out. This is how their first acquaintance took place.

The young people dated for six months. Lena has never been so happy. It seemed that he and Igor were ideal for each other: they read the same books, loved the classics, and were fond of cycling. There was also complete harmony in sex.

Igor started talking about the wedding, saying that he really wanted children. In the summer, the lovers were going on a trip to the sea. Lena made far-reaching plans and applied for a mortgage loan, hoping to buy a larger apartment.

Everything collapsed at one moment when Igor’s legal wife came to the girl’s home. As it turned out, the guy had been married for more than five years, and two children were born in the marriage. It turned out that Lena is not the only lover of the womanizer. Without clarifying the relationship, the girl broke off relations with the man who had become so dear, but turned out to be a liar and a traitor.

Both our heroes fell into a state of frustration. But the consequences for each of them will be different. Undoubtedly, Andrei was upset. But the difficulties of watching football could be overcome. For example, he could go to friends or a sports bar and watch at least the second half. Even if this failed, it is unlikely that an adult man would grieve over the missed pleasure for more than two days.

As for Elena, the situation is more serious. Emotionally, the girl experienced anger, frustration, melancholy, and very severe suffering. She could not change anything in her relationship with Igor. And not only because he is married, it is no longer possible to trust this person. The dream of a family and a child remains a dream and you will have to start all over again if you are lucky enough to meet your person.

What is the difference between stress and frustration?

Concepts such as stress and frustration are similar in nature. Stress is a state of increased nervous tension caused by external influences. This is how the body reacts, trying to independently cope with the difficulties that have arisen. This is where the differences between the concepts come from:

1. The degree of impact of the stimulus. Stress is the body’s response to a strong, often extreme, external influence. In case of frustration, such a stimulus may not exist.
2. Type of impact. A person becomes frustrated as a result of a conflict between desires and reality; under stress, there may be no conflict.

See also: DEVIATION - what is it. Causes, signs and types of deviation

Tolerance

All people can experience this emotion with the same intensity, because some people have natural tolerance. Frustration tolerance - what is it? It is the ability to withstand frustration when solving difficult problems. Having a tolerance with low levels of frustration is associated with the phenomenon of anger, and a higher level of tolerance is associated with lower levels of anger and greater persistence in solving difficult problems. For example, a child with a high degree of tolerance can cope with repeated problems and failures without experiencing significant frustration. A frustrated person, in turn, will experience this emotion from childhood, even when engaged in tasks of average complexity.

Theories of frustration

Having understood what frustration means, it is worth highlighting the main theories of the formation of this phenomenon, as a result of which different reactions to the inability to get what you want are observed:

1. Frustration-aggression , or the theory of J. Dollard, N. Miller and L. Doob. As a person approaches the intended goal, the intensity of emotions increases, which manifests itself in outbursts of aggression when it is impossible to achieve it.
2. Frustration-regression , or the theory of K. Lewin, R. Barker and T. Dembo. It is firmly connected with A. Maslow’s pyramid of needs. The bottom line is that the inability to satisfy the desires of higher levels leads to regression (rollback to lower ones).
3. Frustration-fixation , or the theory of N. Mayer. If it is impossible to achieve a goal, the individual begins to behave out of inertia, regardless of the result, or becomes fixated on the obstacle itself.

Depending on the area of ​​life in which real or imagined difficulties appear, psychologists divide this condition into:

1. Social frustration. It arises due to problems in communication in society. For example, the inability to obtain a certain status, a certain position, a place in an educational institution, etc.
2. Love frustration is a person’s reaction to a breakup or problems in a relationship with a partner.
3. Sexy . In this case, a person experiences sexual arousal and attraction to his sexual partner, but sex does not bring the desired satisfaction.
4. Existential , or doubts about the meaning of one’s existence and life in general.
5. Needs , or the one that develops in the course of satisfying needs according to Maslow's pyramid.
6. False , that is, manifested not by a reaction to certain difficulties, but by malfunctions in the functioning of parts of the nervous or endocrine systems of the human body.

Story

The hypothesis itself originated in 1939 in the form of a monograph published by the Institute of Human Relations at Yale University. The Yale psychologists behind the monograph were John Dollard, Leonard Doob, Neil Miller, O. M. Maurer, and Robert Sears. The book is based on many studies conducted by a team that spanned many disciplines, including psychology, anthropology and sociology. Marxism, psychoanalysis and behaviorism were used by the Yale group during their research. Their work, Frustration and Aggression, soon provided supported evidence to explain theories of aggressive behavior. Their theory applies not only to humans, but also to animals. The book caused controversy on this issue, resulting in more than 7 articles criticizing the new theory. Some scientists and practicing psychologists have argued that frustration is not at all what was described in the book. Many sociologists have abandoned the rather strict definition of this emotion, as well as how the concept of frustration is defined itself. By 1941, the Yale group changed their theory after much criticism and research published by other psychologists. Subsequently, many pioneers in the world of social sciences modified and brought their knowledge to the original theory.

In 1989, Berkowitz published an article, “The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis: Examination and Reformation,” which outlined the failure of empirical studies aimed at testing the hypothesis as well as criticizing it. The new book has been updated with numerous examples of frustration.

Berkowitz proposed a modification of the hypothesis that would take into account negative affect and the individual characteristics of each person. More recently, Breuer and Elson published a comprehensive review of frustration-aggression theory. The authors stated that although there is a sufficient number of empirical studies examining the relationship between the disorder and aggressive behavior, there has been a decline in the number of studies that specifically address this theory. Breuer and Elson propose using the frustration-aggression hypothesis as a theoretical framework for the aggression literature and argue that the theory may have new applications for other fields such as media psychology.

Forms of frustration

Depending on the character of a person, the meaning of frustration can be manifested in different patterns of behavior:

1. The extrapunitive model involves blaming the failures of other people and external circumstances, fixing a negative reaction to them. For example, sexual frustration manifests itself in aggression towards a sexual partner, accusations of unattractiveness or incompetence.
2. Intrapunitive , or model in which a person fixates on his individual characteristics as reasons for failure.
3. Impulsive . With this approach, failure is perceived as a turn of fate, and the fatalism of events is considered. At the same time, the person does not dwell on failure, continues to act or changes the goal.

See also: ADEQUACY - what is it in simple words

Diagnosis

Frustration is a state of the human psyche

When determining frustration among psychologists, the Rosenzweig test (Picture Frustration Method) is most popular. Using this method, a person’s attitude to the existing problem and options for getting out of the current situation (due to which the desired is not achieved) are studied.

The test uses 24 pictures, each of them shows 2 people talking. What the individual on the left is saying is written in a geometric figure; the subject’s task is to come up with an answer to this remark (say the first thing that comes to mind). The phenomena in the pictures can be divided into two categories: accusatory and obstructive situations.

The psychologist evaluates each response received according to two criteria - the direction and type of reaction. Answers are classified according to the type of reaction:

1. Obstacle-dominant
   – increased attention is focused on all barriers (problems) that prevent the achievement of a certain goal, regardless of the nature of their consideration (favorable, unfavorable, neutral).
2. Necessary-persistent
   – ​​a person’s need to find a rational way out of an unpleasant situation, using the help of third parties, confidence in resolving the conflict over time, or developing independent actions. This reaction is also called “fixation on doing what you want.”
3. Self-defensive
   - responsibility for the problem is not attributed to anyone, the test taker denies his own guilt in what happened, avoids criticism and reproaches, and “fixates on self-defense.”

According to the direction of the reaction, the answers are divided:

1. Extrapunitive
   - the external cause of frustration is studied (direction towards the environment), the degree of the situation is determined, in rare cases, the participation of other persons is required to resolve the “conflict”.
2. Impunitive
   - the problematic phenomenon is characterized as “inevitably happening”, which is overcome over time; it is not the fault of the person himself or his environment.
3. Intropunitive
   - a frustrating situation is not subject to condemnation, it is accepted as favorable (an opportunity to learn from one’s mistakes and prevent them from happening in the future).

Reflection in psychology - what is it?

Reactions to frustration

Depending on the characteristics of the human psyche, psychologists distinguish the following types of reactions to frustration:

1. Aggression . This is the most common reaction, manifested by active action to overcome difficulties, necessary for the survival of the human species. That is, this is an attack or a desire to attack on one’s own initiative.
2. Retreat and departure . It can manifest itself both physically (retiring in front of a stronger opponent) and psychologically (admitting one’s loss).
3. Regression . A type of reaction of rollback to a simpler (often infantile) pattern of behavior formed in the mind earlier.

Consequences of frustration

Psychologists view the concept of frustration in a neutral way. This state of mind, depending on a number of factors, can lead to different consequences:

1. Positive . For a healthy person, overcoming obstacles can serve as an incentive for further development, searching for new ways to achieve goals, changing desires, and so on.
2. Negative . Under certain conditions, a person is not able to adequately respond to current circumstances. He can show socially dangerous aggression towards other people or himself, or he can go into the world of illusions and fantasies and experience chronic stress. All this leads to feelings of guilt, inferiority complex, depression and other severe mental conditions.

Diagnosis of frustration

For every person, a feeling of frustration is a natural reaction, so every individual experiences it periodically. However, this condition often drags on, causing a whole range of mental and physical health problems. To diagnose frustration as a painful feeling, there are special psychological techniques:

1. Questionnaire by V. Boyko , with the help of which a person can independently determine the level of his frustration.
2. Rosenzweig technique , or the most popular test for both adults and children.
3. The Wasserman method helps to diagnose the level of social frustration.
4. Verbal test Sobchik . With its help, psychologists more often determine the type, direction and intensity of adolescents’ frustration.

See also:

How to get rid of frustration?

Psychologists have developed a whole range of measures to deal with frustration. Having diagnosed this condition, you can:

1. Look at yourself and the situation from the outside, from the position of an outside observer. Objectively assess the current circumstances.
2. Reconsider unfulfilled desires.
3. Develop a new action plan to achieve your goals.
4. Set realistic deadlines for working towards the goal.
5. Take a short break and rest. After restoration of moral strength, solving problems comes easier.

How to avoid frustration?

Having understood what frustration means, many individuals begin to actively look for methods to avoid such a state. In the conditions of modern reality, the following can help a sensitive person, although not 100%:

1. Specialized classes and trainings: art therapy, group and individual psychological, problem-oriented.
2. Daily breathing exercises aimed at reducing nervousness and irritability.
3. Yoga helps to remove physical and emotional blocks and clamps.
4. Aromatherapy aimed at both relaxation and raising vitality and mood.
5. Massage and self-massage.
6. Hobbies and creative interests.