Frustration (Sources & Reactions)

Frustration:

“The feeling of being upset or annoyed esp. because of inability to change or achieve something.”

“OR”

“Frustration is one of the causes  of stress. It arises when one’s motivation to achieve a desired goal is blocked.”

Sources or causes of frustration:

Following are the main causes or sources of frustration.

Environmental Frustration.

Some obstacles or social restrictions which are coming from our environment will prevent some chances to achieve your goals. Imagine that you are going for a conference by your vehicle  and you have a shortcut to achieve your destination but unfortunately on that day the road is closed for some reason. Then you have to turn back and drive another extra 2-3 hours to your destination as a result of getting late you have missed a few valuable speeches. Here you are frustrated due to environmental factors.

Personal frustration.

You get frustrated at some points due to you own failures or limitations.  People have innate and learned abilities though they are not able to utilize them at any time. Imagine that someone want to study at university. But due to low marks He cannot get admission. The undoubtedly that person’s hope will be shattered therefore this frustration is caused by personal failure.

Conflict of motives.

People have many needs to fulfill those needs there should be a driving force that is motivation. Motives causes somebody to act in particular way. Especially if you have one or more goals there would be a conflict of motives. For e.g. On a holiday you are immediately asked to come home by your parents. But you have planned to meet your girl friend. Then what is going on, you have to select one of the two, and as a result you get frustrated. If you have more hopes and goals, your frustration level will be high when you cannot achieve them all.

Reactions to Frustration:

There are different ways how people respond to frustration. These responses are called coping behavior and are in  the three major categories.

Withdrawal;

In withdrawal reactions an individual that is suffering from frustration simply run from the source of frustration either the source is the threatening obstacle or a painful dangerous situation. These retreats in frustration will manifest maybe in  form of fantasy, nomadism, repression, regression and reaction formation.

Fantasy.

Fantasy is a wishful day dreaming. Frustrated individual might escape from boredom through the use of imaginative thought. Fantasy is a defense reaction that provides harmless respites from the sometimes conflict realities of life.

Nomadism.

Nomadism is another withdrawal reaction wherein one individual who suffered from frustration has a tendency to wander from place to place as the individual desires to escape from a certain frustrating condition

Repression.

Repression is another withdrawal reaction wherein an individual tends to forget one’s frustrating experience. It is motivated by forgetting and consist of a failure to recognize or remember  negative experiences.

Regression.

In regression an individual that suffers from frustration shows some childish quality in an attempt to revert one’s effective form of coping behavior.

Reaction formation.

An individual acts in a way that is opposite to his/her motivation. An example is an individual proving himself and to others that he/she is independent rather than dependent, fearless rather than fearful and nice rather than hostile.

Aggressive;

In aggressive reaction an individual that is suffering from frustration might attack upon people or things. These might be done by expressing it verbally  as in chastisements and physically as in assault. It can be involved in a direct or indirect attack in another individual’s character or possessions or can be expressed in passive ways such as obstructing the works of others through inattention, inaction or uncooperative behavior.

There are many forms of aggressive reactions namely displaced aggression, scapegoating, free floating anger, suicide and projection.

Displaced aggression.

It is kind of a defense mechanism fro  where a frustrated individual transfer his/ her aggressive behavior against other people, him/herself and to the objects that may be the cause of frustration.

Scapegoating.

It is also a kind of aggressive behavior characterized by blaming another persons or object frown failure or fault.

Free floating anger.

It is another aggressive behavior wherein there is prolong reaction of extreme anger.

Suicide.

It is a kind of aggressive behavior wherein an individual kill him/herself because of frustration. It is a self directed displacement of aggression.

Projection.

It is characterized by projecting or assigning individual’s problems, impulses, desires or thoughts to other people in order to reduce the feeling of anxiety.

Compromise reaction;

It involves acceptance of a substitution for one that is desired. An individual  might give into the frustrating obstacles but it is only partial. An individual doesn’t give up completely to his her original goal.

Sublimation & Substitution.

It is considered as redirection of unacceptable impulses to socially acceptance patterns. While substitution is considered as a form of defensive mechanism where frustrated impulses are indirectly satisfied that is without changing the desires.

Compensation.

It is  Considered as defensive mechanism. In a compensation reaction a frustrated individual can overcome what he/she feels are personal limitations through emphasizing desirable ones.

Rationalization.

It is a kind  of compromise reaction that distinguishes the real motive to another one.

Undoing.

In this coping behavior the individual makes use of cleansing rituals  to be able to divert the painful feeling after doing something that makes him/herself feel guilty.