frustration-aggression hypothesis

frustration-aggression hypothesis, psychological explanation of aggressive behaviour as stemming from the frustration of goals. The hypothesis was applied in studies of scapegoating and hate crimes, which indicated that as sources of frustration accumulate—during an economic crisis, for example—frustrated groups may unleash their aggression on a convenient social target, often a minority group. Later research suggested, however, that the connection between economic conditions and hate crimes is more elusive than frustration-aggression researchers once assumed.

Background and assumptions

The frustration-aggression hypothesis was introduced by a group of Yale University psychologists—John Dollard, Leonard Doob, Neal Miller, O.H. Mowrer, and Robert Sears—in an important monograph, Frustration and Aggression (1939), in which they integrated ideas and findings from several disciplines, especially sociology, anthropology, and psychology. Their work was notable for its eclectic use of psychoanalysis, behaviourism, and Marxism. It became one of the most influential explanations of aggressive behaviour in the history of social science.

The hypothesis was soon modified by the Yale group, however, and in 1941 it was proposed that frustration might lead to many different responses, only one of which is aggression. Whereas the original formulation explained the lack of overt aggressive behaviour in certain situations in terms of inhibition due to the fear of punishment (which would not diminish the aggressive drive), a subsequent version of the hypothesis made clear that some responses to frustration (e.g., vigorous exercise) could reduce the invoked aggressive response.

It is important to point out that Dollard and his colleagues believed that their account of frustration and aggression was valid for human as well as nonhuman (i.e., animal) actors and for groups as well as individuals. That is, one should expect aggressive inclinations to result whenever a person or animal experiences frustration.

Application to intergroup relations

In the realm of intergroup relations, the frustration-aggression hypothesis was used to shed light on the dynamics of stereotyping, prejudice, and out-group hostility. The theory of scapegoating is probably the most well-known application of the frustration-aggression hypothesis to the study of prejudice.

Drawing in part on Freudian concepts of displacement, projection, and catharsis, the scapegoating theory held that once frustration and the impetus for aggressive behaviour have occurred, it makes relatively little difference who receives the brunt of the violence. In some cases, aggression naturally takes the form of retaliation against the initial source of frustration. In other cases, situational constraints can prevent a person from being able to react against the actual source of frustration (such as when the frustration was caused by a very powerful person or group). In still other cases, such as natural disasters, there may be no one to blame, but the frustration can still produce aggressive inclinations.

According to the theory, the displacement of aggression onto a socially sanctioned (i.e., convenient) victim group serves several purposes. First, and most important, it channels the expression of aggressive impulses and creates cathartic relief once the aggression has been released. Second, it is socially undesirable to behave violently toward others in the absence of justification, but prejudicial attitudes can be used to justify (or rationalize) the expression of hostility. In that way, members of disadvantaged groups can be blamed for their own plight as targets of hostility and prejudice. Finally, in accordance with psychoanalytic thought, the theory of scapegoating suggests that victim blaming is exacerbated by the projection of (typically unconscious) guilt that frustrated parties feel as a result of their own prejudice and violent activity.

Are you a student?

Get a special academic rate on Britannica Premium.

Subscribe

Stereotyping, according to the American psychologists Gordon Allport and Bernard Kramer, is another manifestation of rationalization tendencies. Stereotypes are effective rationalization devices that serve to legitimize hostility against a whole social group. Consequences of the scapegoating dynamic include overgeneralization of stereotypical traits to an entire social group and the exaggeration of similarities among group members, especially with respect to stereotypical qualities. In addition, because stereotypes are ingrained in the culture, they tend to signal which social groups are presumably appropriate targets for relieving individual frustration.

Criticism and modifications

The frustration-aggression hypothesis exerted a very strong influence on decades of research. Nevertheless, the hypothesis was severely criticized on the grounds of theoretical rigidity and overgeneralization; clearly, it was necessary to limit the scope of the hypothesis to establish its validity. For instance, the initial hypothesis failed to distinguish hostile forms of aggression, in which the actor’s goal is to inflict harm, and instrumental forms of aggression, in which aggression is simply a means to attain other goals (such as control or domination). This criticism can be dealt with rather easily by confining the frustration-aggression hypothesis to cases of hostile aggression alone.

Critics also challenged the premise that any interference with ongoing goal-directed behaviour would evoke frustration. According to the American psychologist Abraham Maslow and others, legitimate (or justified) interferences do not necessarily produce frustration. Only forms of interference that seem illegitimate (or arbitrary or otherwise unjustified), they argued, should lead to frustration. Research indicated that aggressive behaviour is indeed a prevalent response to what are viewed as deliberate and unfair efforts to interfere with an individual’s goal-attainment opportunities.

Finally, the nature of the connection between perceived frustration and the display of violence also turned out to be more complicated than Dollard and his collaborators realized. In the most empirically successful modification of the original frustration-aggression hypothesis, the American social psychologist Leonard Berkowitz suggested that frustration is a psychologically aversive state that can create a predisposition to behave aggressively. According to Berkowitz, frustration will lead to aggression to the extent that it elicits negative emotions. Moreover, frustration is only one form of unpleasant negative affect that can provoke violent responses.

The general idea was that aversive experiences produce negative emotions and feelings, as well as related thoughts and memories of past reactions to negative events. Berkowitz noted that such negative emotions and thoughts lead automatically to the fight-or-flight response. The choice between “fight” and “flight” was thought to depend on the intensity of the negative emotion as well as on the subjective appraisal and interpretation of the situation.