Some physiological changes during frustration.

The purpose of this study was to determine what physiological changes occurred during experimental frustration and to correlate these changes with measures of the individual's adjustive pattern. The measures of physiological changes are most valuable because they give absolute and objective measures of emotional reactions. The concept of the role of frustration in the determination of behavior, both normal and abnormal, has been accepted by most psychologists. It is generally assumed that frustration is accompanied by physiological tensions and that these tensions are essentially emotional in nature. In normal emotional behavior the tensions, which include visceral and skeletal activity, disappear within a relatively short time, that is, as soon as overt or covert activity re-establishes equilibrium. In situations of frustration, however, the tensions are more severe and prolonged because of the lack of solution of the frustrating problem. The overt activity of an individual in one situation is determined by his past behavior in similar situations. Physiological activity, on the other hand, is not entirely dependent on past experience; thus it is relatively similar in different individuals. Because of this relative internal consistency, physiological processes are probably a better measure of the individual reactions to frustration than are the more variable overt responses. The tensions resulting from frustration lead to overt or covert activity, but the form of this activity is socially determined. In this respect the physiological tensions are motivators of activity but they do not determine the form of the behavior.