Psychology of Frustration and Adjustment Mechanisms
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Key Psychological Terms and Definitions
- Frustration: Occurs when goal-directed activities are slowed, made difficult, or become impossible.
- Frustration tolerance: The ability of an individual to deal with frustration without becoming maladjusted or overly upset.
- Conflict: The necessity of choosing between alternatives.
- Adjustment mechanisms: Behavioral patterns that help satisfy needs, reduce anxiety, and protect an individual’s self-esteem.
- Compensation: An attempt to make up for a deficiency in one area by putting forth extra effort and energy in another area.
- Overcompensation: When a person goes beyond merely balancing their feelings of inadequacy.
- Identification: An adjustment mechanism involving the process of copying or associating closely with the behavior of other individuals or groups.
- Projection: When we perceive our own undesirable traits or motives in other people.
- Stereotyped behavior: Behavior that is not changed by circumstances.
- Repression: Forgetting information because the original thoughts are painful.
- Regression: Escaping from present problems by returning to earlier ways of meeting frustrations.
- Procrastination: Putting away a task to avoid frustration.
- Displaced aggression: The transfer of anger from the source of frustration to an innocent person or object.
- Rationalization: A form of thinking where people use socially approved reasons instead of real reasons to explain their behavior (a reasonable excuse).
- Scapegoat: A person or group upon whom all the blame is placed.
Understanding Frustration
Primary Causes
- Environment (physical)
- Social regulation
- Personal limitations
Factors Influencing Intensity
- Motive
- Barrier
- Number of ways
- Frequency
- Emotional stability
- Distance from the goal
Types of Psychological Conflict
- Approach-approach: Choosing between two attractive options.
- Approach-avoidance: One option is favorable while the other is unfavorable.
- Avoidance-avoidance: Choosing between two unattractive options.
Common Adjustment Mechanisms
- Compensation
- Identification
- Projection
- Stereotyped behavior
- Repression
- Regression
- Procrastination
- Displaced aggression
- Rationalization
- Letting someone else decide for you