Escalating frustration - A replication attempt and extension of Yu et al. (2014)

Failures to obtain a desired reward, such as losing money in gambling, can lead to frustration. In gambling, this frustration has been shown to take the form of faster responses after losses compared with wins and non-gambling trials. In addition, reward omission or blockage can lead to more forceful responses. Yu and colleagues (2014) showed that the proximity to a reward and the effort already expended to acquire the reward increased participants' response force and their retrospective self-reported frustration when the reward was blocked.

In this study, we attempted to replicate the findings of Yu and colleagues (2014) using the same experimental procedure. In each schedule, participants (N = 32) needed to complete an arrow direction task for varying numbers of times to win a reward but could be blocked at any stage. The response time (RT) and force of confirming the outcomes were used as indicators of 'frustration'. In addition, to obtain a more real-time and objective measure of (negative) emotion, we measured facial electromyographic (EMG) activity over the corrugator supercilii (frowning muscle) and the zygomaticus (smiling muscle).

Due to technical problems, our data on response force were invalid. In line with the original study, both goal proximity and exerted effort increased participants' self-reported motivation in the task and frustration after being blocked. An exploratory analysis showed that unexpectedly participants were slower in confirming an outcome when they were blocked closer to the reward, while exerted effort did not influence the time taken to confirm the outcome. These RT data were consistent with self-reported surprise ratings, suggesting an orienting response. In the facial EMG data, we observed no difference between wins and losses in activity over the corrugator or the zygomaticus.

Taken together, these data suggest that reward blockage does not necessarily lead to behavioral or psychophysiological expressions of negative emotions such as frustration.