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In the last article, we explored the nature of frustration. Behavior theorists define frustration as an obstacle blocking satisfaction of a need or goal.
In this article, we examine the typical responses to frustration and some research that has been done that relates to frustration. The amount of research far exceeds what can be covered here, but we wanted to share some of the most relevant research as it may relate to repetitive strain injuries (RSI).
Frustration is the most common precursor to and possible elicitor of anger3. It is also associated with aggression and with stress.
Escape, withdrawal and apathy can also be responses to frustration.
As mentioned in the previous article, the level of emotional reaction depends to some degree on the ability to manage emotions. Failure to manage emotions can contribute to decreased productivity, inability to pay attention, injury to cooperative relationships, increased personal stress and depression, addiction, and other health problems. 1, 2
Aggression in response to frustration can be in the form of direct aggression expressed toward the object or person perceived as the source of frustration. A machine might be kicked or a person might be verbally threatened or pushed. Even verbally assaulting a person under your breath is direct aggression in cases where overt aggression may seem too threatening. 4
Displaced aggression is often used when the source of the frustration is too powerful or threatening for direct aggression. If a manager frustrates someone, that individual may take it out on someone whom they do not feel threatened by, such as a co-worker, spouse, child, or friend.
Not all responses to frustration are destructive or negative. Some of the constructive responses are persistence in achieving the goal, implementing different approaches in order to "get around" the obstacle, and consulting with others who are experienced in reaching the desired goal. Another constructive response is having alternate goals to pursue if reaching the original goal fails, but this generally involves advance planning which may not always be an option. 4
Work style is defined as how work is performed. It is the manner or intensity in which a given individual meets the demands of a task. Research shows that stress, coupled with individual characteristics, leads to symptoms of ill health and disease. It appears that work style is a differentiating factor in those who experience symptoms and those who do not.5 In other words, for people experiencing equal levels of stress, those who have an intense work style are more apt to experience poor health than those who have a less intense work style. It is for this reason that the SRI Ergonomics team became interested in the association of frustration with the potential of individuals to experience repetitive strain injuries. Regardless of your typical work style, if your response to frustration is anger, aggression and stress, it is logical to assume that frustration would lead to a predisposition to injuries since these factors will increase the intensity of a person's work style.
User-interaction research attempting to test different algorithms for studying user interfaces, used mouse pressure as a measure of frustration in subjects in at least two studies. Eight pressure sensors were placed on an ordinary mouse. Subjects were subjected to an extremely frustrating computer interaction. The researchers measured and compared mouse pressure before and after the frustrating event. It was determined that mouse pressure was a very reliable measure of frustration, so it was used in both studies to test the user interface algorithms.6,7
What this means to ergonomists is that people are using extra force, a contributing factor or RSI, when they are frustrated. Gripping the mouse tightly is a very damaging action for the hand. It decreases circulation and stresses the tendons, nerves, and muscles in the hand and forearm. Over time, this is likely to lead to repetitive strain injuries. If frustration leads to forceful activity such as gripping, it follows that you are more likely to injure yourself when you are frustrated.
Person-machine and Social Interaction During Frustration.It has been shown that people naturally tend to relate to machines as if they were other people.8 People interact with media, especially computers, with the same expectations and social rules as in dealing with other people. A controlled study was conducted to investigate human-computer interactions.1 Various social, emotional feedback strategies were presented by a computer to relieve users' frustration. A computer interaction system was devised that successfully elicited frustration. In one group, people were not given an opportunity to express their feelings about the frustrating computer interaction at all. A second group was given the opportunity to vent their feelings to the computer. And a third group was given an opportunity to start venting, but then the computer would start interacting by providing feedback to their emotions based on theories of active listening. It was found that the group who received feedback from the computer experienced significantly less frustration and performed better than the other two groups. Interestingly, too, there was no significant difference between males and females in this regard, even though it was expected that females would respond more to the social interaction.
The results of this interaction study are important to us in several ways. The study indicates ways to improve harmony in interactions between cooperative parties, whether human or machine. Active listening improves your ability to think creatively and generate solutions to your problems. And it is likely that this type of interaction would decrease the chances that future annoying situations would be seen as frustrating, possibly improving your sense of autonomy and self-control.
Locus of Control and Frustration.Locus of control refers to an individual's belief about what causes certain outcomes.9 Those with an internal locus of control feel that they have considerable control over the outcomes in their lives. Success and failure is a function of your ability and effort. Those with an external locus of control feel that outside forces, such as luck or fate, exert considerable control over the outcomes in their lives. "Internals" tend to perform better on academic tasks than externals. They also have more effective coping strategies, which leads to better psychological adjustment and reduces the negative health affects associated with high stress.10
A similar concept, Health Locus of Control, is a measure of people's beliefs that their health is or is not determined by their own behavior.11 It was developed because medical professionals were continuously stressing the importance of the patient's active role in his or her own health care. People who believe that their health is a matter of fate, not within their own control, or that they can only do what their doctor tells them to do, have an external health locus of control.
Locus of Control is relevant to the discussion of frustration because, as mentioned in the first article, frustration is often related to the amount of control that someone feels they have in the situation. If there is little sense of control, the person usually feels powerless to change the situation. This is also a common source of stress. For this reason, it is likely that people who rate highly on the external locus of control, or health locus of control scale, will tend to feel more frustrated and potentially more anxious or angry than those who have an internal locus of control. In addition, "externals" are less likely to take responsibility for their own health, and thereby less likely to take precautions to avoid Repetitive Strain Injuries, such as treating the early warning signs, or practicing self-care when experiencing symptoms of RSI. These are people who will continuously seek help from medical authorities, try lots of different types of "ergonomic" equipment, and not realize that the primary source of their pain is through their daily actions that overwork their bodies.
We can draw the following conclusions regarding the emotion of frustration:
In the next article we will discuss potential ways to deal with frustration.
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