The Relationship between Frustration Intolerance and Academic Achievement in College

Traditional measures of predicting academic achievement in college such as high school grades and standardized test scores account for approximately 25% of the difference between predicted and actual grade point average (GPA). Researchers have also examined the relationship between psychological factors and academic self-efficacy which may account for up to 14% of the variance in college students’ GPA. The present study involving 105 undergraduate students was interested in the relationship between frustration intolerance and academic achievement. Subjects were given the Frustration Discomfort Scale (FDS) which consists of 28 items divided into four subscales: a) discomfort intolerance, b) entitlement, c) emotional intolerance, and d) achievement frustration. Results indicated that the FDS was statistically significant at the .000 level and accounted for 23% of the variance when predicting overall college GPA.