The 6 benefits of developing tolerance to frustration

These are the advantages of having the ability to tolerate frustration in life.

A good part of the emotional and behavioral problems that psychologists work on when helping our patients have to do with low frustration tolerance.

This is a phenomenon that not only causes discomfort, but also tends to lead people to self-sabotage, to create unnecessary problems very often.

Fortunately, it is possible to train frustration tolerance.Here we will see what that is for, and several key ideas about how it is achieved.

What is frustration from a psychological point of view?

Frustration is the set of thoughts, emotions and feelings that arise when there are. a big difference between our expectations and the consequences of our actions, leading us to live a worse experience than we expected.. It should be noted that when using this concept, emphasis is usually placed on its characteristics as an emotional response to a situation (i.e., as an assessment of what happens to us), and not so much on the literal content of the thoughts that arise in us when we experience this.

This phenomenon can occur on all time scales; both to the small acts of the day that we perform in a matter of minutes, and to projects that we have been working on for months. And of course, the way it expresses itself is very varied in its degrees of intensity.

On the other hand, in practice, frustration is closely linked to other emotional responses such as anger or sadness, or to feelings such as disappointment and guilt, although each case is unique and not always all these elements have to be present at the same time.

Thus, frustration is what we feel when after setting aside a morning to work we arrive at lunchtime and see that we have wasted the time, and it is also what arises in us when after investing time and money in a professional project we see that we are not reaching the objectives we had set ourselves in terms of profitability.

Finally, it should be clarified that frustration is a complex psychological phenomenon. It is affected by many variables, such as age (frustration tolerance is absent during early childhood and develops as we enter adolescence) or the existence of psychological disorders, and is also influenced by the context in which we live and our past experiences. However, those who have problems in managing frustration are not condemned to suffer this discomfort indefinitely; from psychology it is possible to learn to better regulate this emotional response.

The benefits of developing frustration tolerance

These are the main aspects in which we can see that a good level of frustration tolerance benefits us.

1. It predisposes us to adopt learning habits.

In order to learn, it is necessary to overcome the pitfalls of the first training or study sessions in which we see ourselves far from the goal and we have to adapt physically and mentally to new challenges. For this reason, those who give in easily to frustration throw in the towel after these initial attempts..

2. It makes us better negotiators

In order to negotiate it is necessary to assume that the other person does not necessarily have to be receptive to what we say or propose at first. For this reason, having a tolerance for frustration allows us to reach a consensus, creating a conciliatory environment..

3. It helps us to manage conflicts

In the same line as the advantage we have seen before, tolerance to frustration makes it easier for us to not give in to anger when we encounter someone with beliefs or interests that clash with our own.

4. It protects us from procrastination

Many people get used to manage frustration by going to what provides some immediate relief: not facing those tasks or responsibilities, leaving them for "another time". Not falling into these dynamics allows us to do everything when it's time to do it.and, at the same time, enjoy a better emotional well-being.

5. It makes it possible for us to learn from our mistakes

Tolerance to frustration also involves adopting a detached and neutral perspective and taking note of what we have done wrong in order to try to prevent it from happening again.

6. It favors the establishment of a good self-esteem.

For all these reasons, a good tolerance to frustration reinforces a good level of self-esteem.

What to do to boost frustration tolerance?

These are some of the psychological keys used in therapy. to lead people to train frustration tolerance.

• Use of self-registers and emotion diaries
• Practice of relaxation techniques
• Development of mentally healthy lifestyle habits to prevent anxiety
• Social skills training
• Application of action triggers for medium and long term projects.

Are you interested in psychological help to manage your emotions?

If you notice that in your daily life you have problems to regulate your frustration or to organize your life and not self-sabotage, contact us. At PSiCOBAi we work offering psychotherapy for people of all ages in the modality directed to individual patients as well as in couple therapy sessions. You can count on us in our psychology center or through the online format by video call.

Bibliographical references:

• Dollard, J., Miller, N. E., Doob, L. W., Mowrer, O. H. and Sears, R. R. (1939). Frustration and aggression. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
• Laceulle, O.M. et al. (2015). Why Not Everyone Gets Their Fair Share of Stress: Adolescent's Perceived Relationship Affection Mediates Associations Between Temperament and Subsequent Stressful Social Events. European Journal of Personality, 29(2): 125.
• Miller, N.E. (1941), Frustration–aggression hypothesis. Psychological Review, 48(4): pp. 337 - 42.
• Szasz, P.L.; Szentagotai, A.; Hofmann, S. (2010). The Effect of Emotion Regulation Strategies on Anger. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49(2): pp. 114 - 119.