Arbitrariness of frustration and its consequences for aggression in a social situation1

Abstract

The generality of the frustration-aggression hypothesis as set forth by Dollard, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, and Sears (1939) has been challenged by such findings as those of Pastore (1952), Cohen (1955), and Rothaus and Worchel (1960 These investigations have shown that frustrations which are perceived to be reasonable or nonarbitrary are accepted with much less overt aggression than those which are perceived to be arbitrary or unreasonable This reduction in overt aggression may be due to a decrease in the instigation to aggression or to the arousal of inhibitory forces Rothaus and Worchel (1960) found evidence supporting the latter alternative of response inhibition under nonarbitrary frustrations All of the above studies, however, utilized questionnaires m presenting frustrations to Ss With this method, the reduction m the frequency of aggressive responses under nonarbitrary frustration could result from factors other than the nature of the frustration (eg, response sets, social desirability considerations, etc) Hypothetical frustrations are not likely to attain the intensity of real frustrations and therefore the social pressures to respond with impunity to reasonable (nonarbitrary) frustrations may far outweigh any hypothetically aroused aggressive tensions It was considered necessary, therefore, to replicate the studies of Pastore (1952) and Rothaus and Worchel (1960) under experimental conditions, and to determine whether, given such conditions, the reduction of aggression under nonarbitrary frustration is due to * Frustration and aggression New Haven Yale Univer Press, 1939 KREGARMAN, J J , & WoRCHEL, P Arbitrariness of frustration and agg^rcssion. J abnorm soc Psychol, 1961. 13, 183-187 MiiXER, N E Theory and experiment relating psychoanalytic displacement to stimulus response generalization J abnorm soc Psychol, 1948, 43, 155-178 PASTORE, N The role of arbitrariness in the frustration-aggression hypothesis J abnorm soc Psychol, 1952, 47, 728-731 RoTHAUS, P, &: WoRCHEL, P The inhibition of aggression under nonarbitrary frustration / Pers, 1960, 21, 108-117 WoRCHEL, P Hostility Theory and experimental lnvestigabon In D Willner (Ed ), Decisions, values, and groups, Vol I New York Pergamon Press, 1960Manuscript inttuilly

Toward an Understanding of the Determinants of Anger.

“…However, even the people facing the justifiable difficulty were more hostile than the nonfrustrated control group. Burnstein and Worchel (1962) obtained essentially similar findings in a much earlier experiment in which groups of participants were confronted either by an arbitrary frustration (in which a confederate deliberately and for no good reason interfered with his group's goal attainment) or by a socalled nonarbitrary thwarting (in which the interference was due inadvertently to the confederate's clear physical handicap). In both experiments, the presumably proper barrier to goal attainment apparently was unpleasant enough to elicit some hostile inclinations (see also Geen, 1968, for relevant evidence).…”

Toward a psychological theory of alienation.

“…The unjustifiable aspect of these thwartings renders them conceptually similar to Pastore's (1952) notion of arbitrary frustration, though the latter construct has typically been confined to personally, rather than impersonally, delivered thwartings (cf. Burnstein & Worchel, 1962;Cohen, 1955;Rothaus & Worchel, 1960). While both types of thwartings should arouse frustration, the personal process should initiate more hositility due to the evidence of O's malevolence and the insult this conveys to P (cf.…”

How attribution influences aggression: Answers to an old question by using an implicit measure of anger

“…Pastore, 1952), conclusive evidence is still lacking. To find out if attribution to unintentionality decreases anger and aggressive impulses or if it increases control of aggressive impulses, some studies manipulated the motivation to control aggressive impulses by varying the privacy of aggressive expression (Burnstein & Worchel, 1962;Rule, Dyck, & Nesdale, 1978). If attribution to unintentionality merely increases control of aggressive impulses due to social norms, privacy should lower control motivation and thus lead to more aggression than public conditions.…”

“…As long as the relationship between attribution and aggression has been studied, the question has been raised if attributions to unintentionality actually decrease anger and aggressive impulses or merely increase the control of aggressive impulses (e.g., Burnstein & Worchel, 1962). This discussion is related to a controversial debate about the degree to which attributions and appraisals are necessary for anger and aggression to occur (Berkowitz & Harmon-Jones, 2004;Roseman, 2004;Smith & Kirby, 2004).…”

“…Jones & Davis, 1965;Ross, Greene, & House, 1977) and paying him back in his own coin, we acknowledge his good faith and refrain from retaliation. Not only apologies but also knowledge of legitimacy, nonarbitrariness, or mitigating circumstances may lead to a decrease in aggressive responses (e.g., Berkowitz, 1981;Burnstein & Worchel, 1962;Dill & Anderson, 1995;Zillmann & Cantor, 1976). What these conditions have in common is that frustration is not attributed to the intention of another person but to the circumstances, which we will refer to in the following as attribution to unintentionality.…”