Stress Management from Mind Tools

6-1 AB (200 words and one reference)

Frustration is more likely to lead to aggression when you take your frustrations out on someone else who may be frustrated. When thinking about this question I kept coming back to Black Friday and all the chaos that entails. I remember hearing about someone shooting someone outside a toys-R-us because the other person got the last of a specific toy. Then all the fights in Walmart during Black Friday are uploaded to YouTube. When our drive to reach a goal is blocked by external factors we experience frustration which, in turn, creates an aggressive drive and this can lead to aggressive behavior. (Nickerson, 2021).

I have dealt with anger issues most of my life. Unfortunately, it took me until my 30s to find a practice that helps. One solution is pretty self-explanatory, avoid high levels of negative stimuli. If you get stressed easily with normal shopping going out during black Friday is simply poking the bear. What has helped me tremendously is hard to learn and takes practice but is worth the effort. I take pause before allowing myself to respond. Doesn’t have to be a long pause just one to assess the stimuli and determine if the response reflects the situation or my emotional state.

 

Anger is a powerful emotion that can lead to severe problems in your relationships and career if left unbridled. (Anger Management Test – Abridged, n.d.). Another good website I found while on my journey to handle my anger better is this one,  How Good Is Your Anger Management? – Stress Management from Mind Tools. It gives you a breakdown of a questionnaire you took and how your answers were evaluated. It was and still is an interesting read, after taking the short questionnaire.

6-1 JR (200 words and one reference)

If you are a gamer then you know what it is to be so frustrated that it pushes you to the point to act out of anger by (Rage quitting or screaming mean things into the screen and mic). This effect is know that Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis this posits “theory suggests that frustration—anything that prevents us from reaching goals we are seeking—leads to the arousal of a drive whose primary goal is that of harming some person or object—particularly the perceived cause of frustration” (Branscombe, 2016). This theory suggests that frustration is the only source of aggression (Branscombe, 2016). Something that I personally do to help with my frustration is to break a cup in glass using a hammer, this helps with releasing the frustration. I also like to build up a scream and yell Santa mozzarella  (in an Italian accent) into the sky. The silliness of the idea of someone yelling santa mozzarella using an italian accent into the sky is something that might help with someone’s frustration. I did not know this at first but i was engaging in what Brascombe (2016) describes as “inducing thoughts and feelings that are incompatible with anger or aggression”

Branscombe (2016) mentions the technique of counting to ten, the idea is to divert thought of frustration to something that is inconsistent with the thoughts of frustration. Learning how to divert attention away from frustration can be beneficial to everyone as it can help people avoid conflict. I feel like this is a technique that is not talked about enough or taught to us to as children or adults.

6-2 LL (200 words and one reference)

We want to understand the why, therefore, knowledge can help us understand better and also help us predict their future actions. This process is known as attribution. This process not only concerns our efforts to understand the causes behind others’ behaviors, we also use it to understand the causes behind our own behavior (Branscombe, 2016). The way we perceive the situations will determine our willingness to help in the situation. For example, if we see one who waste all of their time on doing anything, then seeks help to get things done, will be a way for one to not be willing to help. Also, the value type of self-enhancement is most negatively related to helping behavior. Self-enhancement values of power and achievement are expressed by care for the self, and not for others (Daniel, 2015). This is the main cause of one not helping others.

However, from a Christian’s framework, the typical response is not justified due to we are to put others before ourselves. This also requires a line to be drawn so we would not be maliciously used by others for our downfall. Helping others should be at the top of the list for a Christian, regardless of the person they are helping condition. The idea to not focus on self enhancement, but rather the community’s enhancement.