Frustration in psychology: what is it, state, concept and meaning

Tolerance in psychology is absolutely the same concept that is widespread in sociology. But in general, it must be said that this term contains a lot of meanings, and is not interpreted unambiguously by specialists in various fields. Although the definitions are similar, this cannot be denied.

Now it is worth considering this term in the context of interpersonal relationships, and also try to highlight the most important aspects related to this topic.

Definition

Tolerance in psychology is a concept that includes tolerance for other customs, behavior, lifestyle and worldview. It is not the same as indifference, as some may think. Tolerance in this case is manifested in a person making a conscious decision not to humiliate views and all of the above if they differ from those that he adheres to.

Being tolerant does not mean changing your worldview, abandoning it in favor of someone else’s. This quality is manifested in a person’s lack of negativity towards people who are different from him. It can be compared to the concept of positive neutrality.

A tolerant person simply allows other people to live in accordance with their own worldview - just as they live for him.

Personality characteristics

Continuing to study the given topic, it should be noted that tolerance in psychology is also a sign of intelligence. People who are characterized by this quality are distinguished by high intelligence, because they are able to evaluate phenomena, events and other personalities without bias, despite the fact that they do not correspond to their views.

Such persons can note both positive and negative traits, focusing only on the objective side, without taking into account personal interests.

Tolerance in psychology is also a sign of human culture. someone who respects other people's beliefs and opinions clearly has a developed inner world.

Policy

Above we briefly talked about what is hidden behind the concept of tolerance in psychology. This is a fairly simple definition, and now, having understood it, you need to study the main types of this quality. There are many of them, but we will only talk about the main ones.

Political tolerance is the tolerant attitude of opponents to the differences in ideological views that always exist and will exist between them. It can also be called the most important feature of liberal democratic systems, the purpose of which is to ensure the implementation of civil rights. Namely, freedom of association and self-expression.

In this context, the concept is difficult to consider, since it relates not only to politics, but also to the state and civil society.

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:

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.
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).
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.

Differences by gender

Politics is a complex topic, but the one that concerns gender inequality has always been relevant. Although we must admit that now, in the 21st century, it is no longer so pressing.

But gender prejudices and stereotypes still exist. They determine the status characteristics of women and men, consolidating the dominant position of the latter and discriminating against the former. There is clearly a negative bias here that greatly distorts reality. Because of stereotypes, prejudices become very strong emotional components.

We can discuss this topic for a long time. But it’s worth stopping at the definition. Gender tolerance is a quality that manifests itself in an unbiased attitude towards people of the other sex, as well as in the inadmissibility of attributing to a person shortcomings taken “out of thin air” just because he is a man or a woman. People to whom it is inherent have no ideas about the superiority of anyone over someone else. They judge others not by gender, but by personality traits.

Frustration in relationships

Love relationships often end in frustration, and the difficulties that arise along the way usually only strengthen the union, become the cause of romantic feelings, and increased attraction. Everyday situations are usually not so important and fade into the background.

Love frustration is interesting in that outwardly the condition bears little resemblance to the actions inherent in a person who is attracted to his soul mate. Strong aggression is often applied to the object of sympathy, which is expressed by jealous outbursts, beatings, and persecution of the person of interest. Psychologists also warn that frustration can lead to bodily harm, serious beatings, and sexual violence.

Frustration also develops against the background of unrealized hopes. A woman who gets married or enters into a sexual relationship with a man hopes that she will become the only and irreplaceable one, that she will feel incredible love and attraction, but she has to deal with surprises. The person on whom such hopes were pinned remains almost indifferent, which makes him feel insignificant, lose faith in himself, and lower his self-esteem.

Avoiding frustration in a love relationship is not easy. You will have to rethink your desires, behavior, and try to create equality in the family. Psychologists do not recommend trying to focus on the psychological resources of your other half - you should rely only on your own capabilities and strengths, otherwise disappointment will not be long in coming.

Age

This criterion is more relevant than gender. It is often taken into account in the psychology and pedagogy of tolerance.

What can I say? Very often people are biased towards the a priori “shortcomings” of others. For example, they dislike old people because of their inability to understand modern technology and youth, or the aggression experienced towards teenagers due to their lack of knowledge or experience.

This is also called ageism - age discrimination. It manifests itself in the readiness to adequately perceive only those people who meet some pre-established criterion. For example, communicate only with peers, do not enter into a relationship with a girl who is older, etc.

Tolerance, accordingly, is manifested in respectful attitude towards people of different age categories. A person with this quality is able to listen to a 13-year-old teenager if he says reasonable things. But a limited person will brush it off, believing that “adults know better,” and would rather follow the advice of a not particularly developed peer.

The main reasons that can provoke frustration

Frustration in psychology is provoked by several types of circumstances and is divided into categories, each of which has its own characteristics. A frustrating state is caused by:

privation. Lack of tools (instruments) necessary to achieve results and lack of basic resources. An example of frustration is the desire to practice vocals at a professional level in the absence of pronounced vocal abilities;
conflict. Conflicts of interests, motives that are incompatible with each other prevent the satisfaction of certain desires and needs. Frustration arises in a senior teacher who is carried away by a young student - the man understands that this is impossible, because he looks ridiculous and clumsy, and does not meet ethical standards;
deprivation. The disappearance of objects to which a strong attachment was felt, and at their expense certain needs were satisfied. An example is a burnt house in which you have spent your entire life since childhood.

In psychology, frustration is caused by factors that have a special term - frustrators. Psychologists include various actions or circumstances, close or distant people, and life situations. The main types of frustrators that are distinguished in psychology are:

psychological. These include abilities that are at an insufficient level, incomplete knowledge or skills that arise against the background of various situations of doubt. Conflicts that develop within a person are also classified as psychological types of frustrators;
physical. Develop against the background of restrictions on freedom (long-term imprisonment in a prison, financial problems, time restrictions);
social. Psychologists consider conflicts with relatives, friends, acquaintances, generally accepted norms of behavior, and laws to be types of frustrators;
biological. Health problems, defects in appearance or body, serious illnesses and pathologies are the last type of frustrators that provoke the development of frustration.

External circumstances that act as an obstacle to achieving the desired goal are tolerated by a person who has fallen into a state of frustration much easier - there is an opportunity to shift the blame for the lack of results onto other people. If a person considers himself to be the reason for unsuccessful work, the consequences of frustration will be unpleasant - self-esteem will sharply decrease, and there will be a reason for self-flagellation.

Physiology

Continuing to list the types of tolerance in psychology, it is necessary to note this criterion. He is one of the most deplorable.

Lack of physiological tolerance is manifested in disrespectful, mocking, contemptuous attitude towards disabled people, sick people, as well as inferior individuals or those who have external defects.

It is sad. Intolerant people not only offend those who are unlucky in some way (often through no fault of their own) - they also do not recognize their freedoms and rights.

Orientation

Another relevant aspect that needs to be paid attention to, since we are talking about social psychology and tolerance. Times pass, but people do not change - and in the 21st century, many are interested in who loves whom and shares a bed with whom.

Individuals who choose members of the same sex as partners regularly have to deal with the characteristic “non-traditional orientation”. What does it mean? Not the one that is accepted in society - associated with retreat, with the rejection of traditions.

But is it appropriate to put it this way in this context? After all, what is tradition? These are rituals and habits - something that is passed on from one generation to another. How can feelings that are completely different for all people be inherited? After all, we are talking about something higher - about internal sensations, sensuality, spirituality.

We can also talk about this for a long time. And in this case, tolerance is manifested in the fact that it does not matter to a person with whom this or that individual is in a relationship - he perceives him as a person, focusing on personal qualities that are important in one or another area (personal, family, work, etc. .), and not on who he prefers.

Wasserman's Social Frustration Methodology: List of Statements

All statements are based on a diagnosis of a person’s satisfaction with various social factors.

Received education.
Working relationships with colleagues.
Relationships with superiors.
Relations with various subjects of one’s own professional activity. For example, with clients, students, patients.
The meaning of work.
Possibility of vacation.
Possibility of choosing a job.
Conditions of professional activity or training.
Social status.
Financial situation.
Own way of life.
Relationships with your spouse.
Relationships with children.
Relationships with parents.
Relationships with friends.
Own leisure activities.
State social situation.
Service sector, consumer services.
Housing and living conditions.
Sphere of medical care.

A person evaluates each question with a certain number of points, and then proceeds to process the data, as if it were a reader’s diary.

This video describes interesting information about the world of illusions of men.

Wasserman’s method for diagnosing the level of social frustration: processing the questionnaire

After evaluating each statement in a point system, you need to add up the total number of points and divide it by the number of points in the questionnaire. If it is necessary to assess the level of frustration in a group of people, it is necessary to adhere to the following technology for calculating the result:

produce a separate product of the number of people who gave one or another point by the indicator assigned to the answer;
summarize the indicators of works;
divide the added amount by the total number of people.

Using another technology, it is possible to diagnose the final averaged index of the degree of frustrated attachment. To do this, you need to add up each score for all points. And then the resulting amount must be divided by the number of points, that is, by a factor of 20. It is worth considering that in mass research it is necessary to pay special attention to the indicator that displays the percentage of respondents who chose a certain assessment of the question.

Ethnicity

The next aspect is important to mention. In psychology, interethnic tolerance is not as interesting as its opposite, which manifests itself in racism, xenophobia, ethnocentrism and nationalism. Indeed, in this case it is not just hatred (which, however, is already enough, since it is a destructive feeling). All of the above leads to human suffering, large-scale social conflicts and misfortunes.

It has been proven that it is in this ethnoracial discrimination, which is based on skin color, national origin or race, that intolerance is most clearly expressed.

Surprisingly, not all people are able to understand and accept the dissimilarity, differences and peculiar otherness of others. They cannot realize that there is a different mentality, different traditions and behavioral patterns, a different culture.

And it's wild. Yes, ethnic groups are different, but we all belong to the same species - the human species, sharing a single planet Earth. This means that everyone, no matter how they look, has the right to freedom and a carefree life without infringement.

Frustration concept

Now we will talk about something else. If everything is more or less clear with the previous types, then frustration tolerance is a unique concept in psychology. And it’s worth dealing with it.

Frustration is a mental state in which a person finds himself when his desires do not correspond to his capabilities. It also occurs after stress and can be identified with frustration of plans and futile expectations.

What is frustration tolerance? This is a concept in psychology that denotes the resistance of an individual’s psyche to the effects of unfavorable, even difficult, stimuli on him. You can also say that this is the name given to the ability to emotionally and psychologically withstand life’s difficulties without mental shifts or breakdowns.

The “healthiest” state is when a person, despite the frustrators affecting him, thinks judiciously and calmly, perceiving what is happening as a life lesson, without complaining about himself and others.

Sometimes tolerance manifests itself in other ways. A person can simply restrain himself so as not to make impulsive unwanted reactions. Or simply “masquerade” with indifference, hiding behind it strong emotions that are tearing him to pieces from the inside. But such conditions are not considered healthy.

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:

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.
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.
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.

Who needs tolerance and why?

The question is very simple, but some people still ask it. However, every manual and book dedicated to the psychology of tolerance has an answer to it, so they can complete the topic under discussion.

Many have a negative attitude towards this term and phenomenon. A considerable number of people claim that it came to us from the West. And many also believe that tolerance hides moral nihilism and indifference to religious truths, vices and values that have been formed in society for decades.

But people just made it complicated again. The concept of tolerance in psychology does not have a hidden meaning. It's simple - if we don't learn to accept the fact that people are different, and they have the right to be different from others, then we will simply be in a state of war all the time.

This hostility is meaningless and, if you think logically, baseless. It’s just that everything is spoiled by subjective perception and the unwillingness of many people to restrain it. And then everything is simple - similar negativity unites and gives rise to hatred. But this is the most destructive feeling of all. And it destroys first of all the one who experiences it, and not those at whom it is directed.

Frustration - what is it in psychology, briefly and clearly

Understanding what frustration is in psychology is not difficult. This is a complex mental state during which activity aimed at a specific goal is blocked. A frustrating state often occurs in everyday life:

if it is impossible to have children (one of the spouses has been diagnosed with infertility), while the couple is counting on an early pregnancy;
love for a strange woman who does not respond to a suitor, remaining faithful to her beloved husband;
passion, gratitude, desire to meet the person who has passed away.

To satisfy needs, a person begins to make plans to achieve a goal, pre-thinking through subsequent actions. It happens that you cannot achieve results; a serious insurmountable obstacle arises on the way. The chain of events is abruptly interrupted, ending in serious mental disorders. In a state of frustration, a person exhibits different emotions - from almost harmless annoyance to hopelessness, resulting in worries and mental anxieties.

The intensity of frustration depends on many factors:

powers of desire. Example: if a meal (lunch or dinner) is suddenly disrupted for an individual for an important reason, the trouble will cause significantly less irritation than for a person who has been sitting hungry for the second day and was counting on this meal;
proximity to the target. The intensity of frustration increases significantly if the goal is already close and for some reason an insurmountable obstacle arises. A simple life example: there is already appetizing food on the table, which is suddenly removed. The frustrating state becomes significantly more complicated, frustration, anger, and irritation appear;
energy costs that had to be spent to achieve the goal. If a lot of effort, energy, and time have been spent on the result, the strength of frustration increases significantly. For example, an athlete who has been preparing for several years for an important competition will be more upset than a person who suddenly wins, who spent a minimum of effort to achieve this goal;
frustrator power. The intensity of frustration depends on the importance of the obstacle that has arisen on the way. Much also depends on an adequate assessment of the situation. It happens that the strength of an obstacle is perceived incorrectly - it is greatly overestimated or reduced. The result of the situation is a frustration reaction;
attractiveness of the results. The situation that led to the state of frustration must be too significant for the person. The greatest danger lies in blocking activities aimed at satisfying certain needs. An example from life that allows us to understand this factor that provokes frustration is a serious injury to the hand of a musician, for whom playing music is not just a hobby, but a real calling, will cause incredible mental suffering, nervous breakdown and mental disorders. For a person who simply plays music and does not consider this activity to be the purpose of life, the injury will pass practically without a trace - the activity will simply be directed towards another hobby, without causing harm to the psyche.

The most dangerous condition is considered to be one that develops in a person who is repeatedly frustrated. Stress accumulates over a long period of time, breaking through at the final stage into negative emotions and serious mental disorders.