Examining the frustration construct: systematic comparison to stress and framework application

Abstract

The current study aimed to polish the frustration construct through comprehensive literature review and comparison to stress. This was achieved through semantic analysis of stress and frustration and comparison of these semantic differences to actual conceptualizations of the two constructs as well as their associated situations. Based on Affective Events Theory (Weiss & Copranzano, 1996), the current study also aimed to clarify the affective experiences associated with frustration to better understand how related behaviors and attitudes manifest. Lastly, it tested a model of frustration based in a frustration framework (González-Gómez & Hudson, 2023) and conceptualized it within Effort Reward Imbalance (Siegrist, 1996). Key findings were that frustration and stress were indeed semantically similar and some small nuances in frustration experiences identified; some established frustraters were contributed more to stress. Frustration was best represented by a simplified model, including cognitive antecedents of goal blockage and effort and outcomes of guilt and hostility, and the relationship between cognitive antecedents and frustration was consistently moderated by individual differences.