Which of the following is/are true with regard to frustration aggression theory?
A. An American Psychologist, John Dollard along with his collaborators conducted research to examine frustration aggression theory.
B. Frustration-Aggression theory states that frustration leads to aggression.
C. Frustrated persons demonstrate less aggression than non-frustrated people.
D. Aggression is often shown towards a weaker person who is unable to react to the aggression.
E. Situational factors are not responsible for an individual's aggression.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → A, B and D only
A. An American Psychologist, John Dollard along with his collaborators conducted research to examine frustration aggression theory. Correct. John Dollard and his collaborators conducted research specifically to examine the frustration-aggression theory.
B. Frustration-Aggression theory states that frustration leads to aggression. Correct. The theory proposes that it is frustration that leads to aggression; frustration results from the blocking of needs and motives by something or someone that hinders us from achieving a desired goal.
C. Frustrated persons demonstrate less aggression than non-frustrated people. Incorrect. It is the other way round: as expected, frustrated persons showed more aggression than non-frustrated persons.
D. Aggression is often shown towards a weaker person who is unable to react to the aggression. Correct. Such aggression was often shown towards a weaker person who was unlikely, or unable, to react. This is called displacement.
E. Situational factors are not responsible for an individual’s aggression. Incorrect. Later research showed that frustration is not the only, or even a major, cause of aggression, and that many other situational factors may lead to aggression, such as learning, observing an aggressive model and anger-provoking actions of others.
Note: The frustration-aggression theory was there in the chapter ‘Psychology and Life’ of the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023, and is not there in the NCERT book (2025-26).
NCERT (2025-26): “Psychological Stress … Frustration results from the blocking of needs and motives by something or someone that hinders us from achieving a desired goal.…” NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “Causes of Aggression … An American psychologist, John Dollard along with his collaborators, conducted research specifically to examine the frustration-aggression theory. This theory proposes that it is frustration that leads to aggression. As expected, frustrated persons did demonstrate more aggression than non-frustrated persons. Moreover, such aggression was often shown towards a weaker person who was unlikely, or unable, to react to the aggression. This phenomenon has been called displacement. … Later on, as more information was gathered about the causes of aggression, it became clear that frustration is not the only, or even a major cause of aggression. Observations showed that (i) being frustrated does not necessarily make a person aggressive, and (ii) many other situational factors may lead to aggression.…” |