Frustration
Every wants to satisfy his needs, desire or hopes but it is impossible because fulfillment of every desire gives birth to new desire and craving for success. In such a condition, unfulfilled and unsatisfied desires or needs produce failure or frustration. This is a situation of depression and discouragement, which is characterized by the obstructions in the path of motives fulfillment. Following definition further explain the meaning of frustration."Frustration is a condition which produces, partial or complete physical obstructions, delay in response or failure, instead of expected success." -Brown & Fibre, Lawson M.L
"Frustration is not only the failure of needs and desire, but more than that, it is a reactionary condition." -J.C Kaulman
"Frustration is such a condition, in which it is difficulty or impossible to satisfy the motivated behaviour of person." -N.L Mann
Causes of Frustration:-
Degree of frustration mainly depends on the:-
1. Intensity of motive or desire.
2. The distance from goal
Some general cause of frustration are describe.
Internal Factors
1. Competition:- Failure in competition gives birth to frustration.
2. High Level of Aspiration:- Setting the targets, which are higher than the ability, intellect, strength or capacity of the person, increase his chances of failure, which in turn becomes the cause of frustration.
3. Inborn disabilities:- Blindness, deafness, physical deformities or congenital disfiguration etc, may generate inferiority in the person, which makes the success in the initiated task doubtful. Inferiorities and failure, gives birth to frustration.
4. Lack of efforts:- Lack of efforts makes a person incapable of satisfying or achieving the goals, as a result he feels frustrated.
External Factors:-
1. Natural Environment:- It includes earthquakes, heavy rains, less rains, epidermics etc.
2. Accidents:- Different types of accidents make a person financially physically and emotionally weak and he becomes prone to failure in life.
3. Political Causes:- Censoring the freedom of speech or expression frustrates the person.
4. Social and Culture obstacles:- Various types of social and cultural traditions, rules, norms, faiths etc. obstruct the fulfillment of one's desire by putting direct or indirect restrains on the person. As a result, it may give birth to frustration.
Nature
Frustration can be simple or complex by nature. Simple failure may further encourage the person to achieve his objective or can escape from the frustration by changing his needs. But the failure and frustration which are complex in nature, may become the cause of drug addiction and mental disorders. In extreme cases, it may even lead the person to commit suicide. Frustration can be recognized by excessive tension, feeling of inferiority, dissatisfaction and various mental mechanisms. Nature of frustration is further classified by the way a person reacts to it.
Sources of Frustration
1. Environment Forces:- that black motives fulfillment. The obstacle may be something physical, e.g., a locked door, lack of money or it may be people-parents, teacher or policemen. The restrictions placed on behaviour by the rules of the society is another sources of frustration.
2. Personal Inadequates:- That make it impossible to reach goals. For example, some people are handicapped by blindness or paralysis. As children grow into adulthood, the unattainable goal bring more and more frustration. These are mainly learned goals that cannot be achieved because they are beyond the person's abilities. A boy may learn to aspire for too high and academic achievement but is neither very intelligent nor hard working. He gets low makes only because of his level of performance.
Most individual have some desire, but they are not equally equipped to satisfy them. In life's struggle for health, marital partners and other values, the more gifted encounter lens obstacles than the endowed. All things being equal, some perform better than the less privileged. Characteristics of body, personality and intelligence may also cause frustration. It is called "personal" frustration produces an emotional state which is always unpleasant. It creates tension or stress which various from simple annoyance to heated anger. But frustration is inevitable. It begins from birth. The process of birth it self is a frustrating experience for the baby.
3. Conflicts between motives the most serious and deep-rooted frustration occure due to conflict between motives. These conflicts are of four basis forms. In each of these conflicts, attainment of a goal, for a time, is hindered. Depending on the type of conflict, various emotional and behavioural reaction may occur.
Reactions of Frustration:-
Frustration create uncomfortable emotional tensions and so the individual tries to reduce the tension in a variety of ways. The important reaction are as follows:-
1. Direct approach:- Two direct method of overcoming obstacles are increased effort and changing the mode of attack. If both the methods fail, the third alternative is in changing the goal to one that is more attainable.
2. Feelings of Inferiority:- When increased effort and variation of attack fail and substitute goals are unavailable, individual often reacts by developing feelings of helplessness and inadequacy. This emotionally distressing state of the mind is referred to as inferiority complex. An inferiority complex is the form of self-criticism usually involving fear of social disapproval. The common reactions are fear to competition, extreme sensitivity to criticism, suspicion, envy, self consciousness, worry and extreme self-analysis.
3. Aggressiveness:- Instead of adjusting passively to obstacles with a defeatist attitude, many react aggressively towards the source of frustration. Aggressive reaction is very common when some external obstacle is the cause of frustration. The target of attack is usually some other person or object and the intensity of attack is proportionate to the amount of frustration.
Conflicts
Conflict is a condition of mental indecisiveness. This is a mental struggle of not being able to choose from the two exactly opposite options. Conflicts arises from the two ways of acting, opposite ways of thinking or inability to select a person, object or condition with different characteristics. This specifies the wavering nature of the person some definition of all conflict are given below:-
"Conflicts is a condition in which two opposite situation arise and it is not possible to satisfy both of them together." -Boring, Langfield Beld
"Conflicts is the generation of such a stimulus condition, before a person, whose solution lies in two or more opposite reaction of equal potential." -B.A. Mahar
"Conflict is a condition in which two equally opposite forces or motives are present simultaneously in front of the person." -K.L Levin
Causes of Conflict
1. Personal failure and inferiorities.
2. Personal shortcoming and physical disabilities.
3. Difference of opinion among family member.
4. Obstacle in the fulfillment of sexual desire.
5. Obstacle related to surroundings.
Types of Conflict
It can be further divided into three types:-
1. Approach-Approach
2. Avoidance-Avoidance
3. Approach-Avoidance
1. Approach-Approach:- It is a condition when two or more than two equally attractive goals come into competition with each other in such a manner that only one can be achieved.
For example:- A student is having final examination and on the same day his brother's marriage is declared. A person gets appointment for job from two places at the same time. Both jobs are equally attractive and he wants to join both, but it is not possible. In some cases the person can manage by delaying the achievement of other goals, if it is possible.
2. Avoidance-Avoidance:- It is a type of condition, when two or more than two equally aversive goals appear in such a manner that one wants to avoid the pain of both but only one can be avoided.
For example:- A child has not finished his home work. If he will go to school then teacher will certainly punish him but if he stays at home then punishment from father is definite. The is one solution to it that he should run away from the situation but it may leads to other dangerous things of the outer world. The person just oscillates between two goals.
3. Approach-Avoidance:- It is the most serious type of conflict. It is a condition when a goal has both attractive and aversive characteristics. Attractiveness of goals attracts for the achievement but the aversive characteristics repels back. An individual's moves towards the goals to achieve part of goal but repelled back with aversive part of goal.
For example:- An individual got a good job, but for this he has to stay away from home in a deserted place. He cannot leave the job but also cannot live in a deserted place. But both conditions cannot be separated. Either he has to leave the job to avoid living in deserted place or he has to live in deserted place with job. Sometimes the goal may have many attractive and aversive characteristics. Then it is called multiple Approach-Avoidance conflict.
For example:- A girl wanted to marry a boy who is handsome, intelligent and rich, but after marriage she has to sacrifice her career and parents.
Coping and Stress
A normal person tries to adjust in all types of stress situation. At times, he may be successful and at times he may even fail, But he continues to cope with the stress in normal mode. Given below are the main ways of coping with stress.
1. Direct Coping:- Here the person wants to change the conditions responsible for breaking his peace of mind or he wants to escape from such situations. He may take following measures for this:-
1. Aggression
2. Compromise
3. Withdrawal
2. Mental mechanism:- Person uses some mental mechanism or psychological reactions to adjust and balance himself to escape the stress. These mental creation can be conscious or unconscious. Reasoning, projection, compensation, escape, displacement etc., are the major constitutents of these mechanisms.
3. General measure:-
a. Developing the tendency to solve problem.
b. Thinking, before taking a decision, but sticking to the decision once it has been taken.
c. Using the techniques of adjustment.
