Frustration functions as adaptive pain signaling goal blockage

Evidence

Tajfel termed the process by which frustration becomes group blame “social attribution,” situating it firmly within the social-cognitive approach favored by social psychologists. Attribution theory (e.g., Kelley, 1967) posits that people seek to understand the causes of events, especially negative ones. This makes adaptive sense: when bad events happen, people try to diagnose why they occurred, which may indicate how to correct the problem. When goals are blocked, frustration energizes the individual to diagnose and overcome obstacles. Like physical pain, frustration is an aversive state that indicates something is amiss and motivates the individual to attend to the problem. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1579

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines social attribution and reframes frustration from the old drive-discharge model to an adaptive information signal.