Let’s look at the following scene: Adrian, age ten, sits down to do his math homework. After reading the first problem, he gets up angrily and shouts: “I don’t understand anything!” He then abandons the task and complains to his mother, who patiently sits down with him and explains what he has to do. It is likely that, with more or less effort and discussion, both of them will finish the homework. But is there another way to help Adrian?

Adrian’s frustration is a natural emotion. Who hasn’t felt frustrated at some point when faced with a task that seems too difficult or requires too much effort or doesn’t turn out as easily as we expected?

But any teacher or parent knows that dealing with a child who has a low tolerance for this emotion can be a challenge. Learning to understand and accept it is an important element of life. We often experience frustration as an unwanted emotion, but from neuroeducation we know how important it is in learning.

Frustration can act as a catalyst for motivation if handled properly. According to neuroscience , intense emotions like this can increase levels of attention and focus, as long as they are not excessive. This balance is key to maintaining interest in educational tasks. If students have a growth mindset, it will be easier for this to happen.

Carol Dweck ‘s theory on fixed mindsets and growth mindsets highlights that people with a growth mindset view frustration as an opportunity to learn and improve. This approach encourages perseverance and reduces the negative impact of failures on learning.

Promoting a growth mindset, both at school and at home, can be very helpful in many facets of life, not just in the academic stage.

Frustration as part of emotional learning

Neuroeducation is well-known for the importance of emotions and learning. Teaching emotional skills to students can help them better manage frustration, promoting a more balanced, safe and effective educational environment.

Because like any other emotion, it has its function in our survival. Knowing how to recognize, manage and handle it is essential for life.

Effects on the reward system

Frustration is related to changes in the brain’s reinforcement mechanisms, particularly dopamine levels. When expectations are not met, positive reinforcement decreases, which can demotivate the student if not managed properly.

It is useful to convey the idea that expectations will not always be met and that one cannot always be happy and satisfied. Many authors remind us of the pressure of a happycracy society , of the imposition of being happy that makes frustration more present due to not reaching that fictitious level of satisfaction.

Relationship between frustration and fear

Neurobiologically, frustration activates brain areas linked to fear . This can generate avoidance responses to tasks associated with previous frustrating experiences, negatively affecting the willingness to learn. If I am afraid of not performing a task well, I will try to avoid it. And frustration arises precisely because I have not even tried.

If students have confidence in their abilities, it is easier for them to cope with frustration. Perseverance, trying again and learning from the process are essential to confronting these fears and managing to cope with frustration.

Proper management of frustration encourages the development of higher cognitive skills such as problem solving and critical thinking: it helps us make good decisions and plan by adjusting expectations, since we will not be influenced by the fear of making mistakes or the desire to avoid an unpleasant sensation, but we will know that, even if there is an unpleasant moment in which we feel distressed, we will be able to overcome it.

How do we “build” tolerance to frustration?

In educational settings, designing activities that include moderate levels of difficulty can help students develop frustration tolerance by allowing students to gradually overcome obstacles. Difficulties in life will always be present, but if they have learned that they are capable of overcoming small challenges, they will be able to face bigger challenges later on.

Educators must create environments where students can experience controlled but manageable frustrations. This includes providing constructive feedback and fostering a resilient mindset that values ​​effort over immediate outcome.

Learning to live

Frustration is an inevitable emotion in the learning process, but its proper management can turn it into a powerful tool for personal and academic development. From neuroscience, understanding its impact allows us to design more effective educational strategies that enhance both the cognitive and emotional capacities of students. Learning to overcome gradual challenges, to extract lessons from mistakes and to self-regulate will help to work through frustration and learn from and with it.

If, instead of getting angry because he doesn’t understand the problem at first, we help Adrian not to solve it, but to trust that by rereading, dividing the statement into smaller parts, trying different strategies, that huge initial challenge will become something more manageable, Adrian will learn much more than mathematics.

Author Bio: Anna Forés Miravalles is Professor, Faculty of Education at the University of Barcelona