The phenomenon of frustration in the information sphere
Authors: KORZH I. 
Published: March 2024

This article is devoted to the study of the influence of information on consciousness, psyche and human activity in modern conditions. The role of information in the further development of modern society and the state is shown, the basis of which is the formation of an information society with the development of computing and information technology. It is noted that currently information is an important source of the formation and functioning of power, a necessary condition for which is the collection, analysis, processing, selection and effective use of information. Today's mass media broadcast information about the processes in the regions, the country, and the world, with the help of which different ideological visions are literally imposed on the population, and which can act as a force that can both stabilize society and become a detonator of a social explosion. At the same time, information becomes a real, almost physically tangible force that can increase power projection, reducing the adversary's will and ability to wage war. Attention is focused on the fact that, as a weapon, information can be related to the emergence of such a category as “information trauma”, i.e., as a consequence of the effect of a certain type of information on the human psyche and which accompanies all other types and forms of collective trauma and is their mandatory component. It is emphasized that the problem of informational influences on the psyche of people has become more acute in the modern world in connection with terrorist and hybrid wars, in particular in Ukraine – in connection with the informational war that Russian propaganda has purposefully waged in recent years. At the same time, the influence of information technologies in various spheres of life is constantly growing. Modern wars are fought in the information space with the help of specific information types of weapons. Information can be both a means of defense and an offense, depending on whose resource and propaganda will be more powerful. The success of their implementation depends on the successful implementation of information and psychological campaigns (information and psychological operations), the essence of which is to influence public consciousness in such a way as to lead people and force them to act against their interests. It has been determined that the use of information as a weapon directed against a probable or potential adversary, primarily against the psychological and mental state of a person, with the aim of causing the population a state of distress, disappointment, anxiety, irritability, despair, as well as a sense of hopelessness and despair, i.e. one of the forms of psychological stress is called frustration, the result of which can be a person's depression. It is noted that if we look at frustration purely through an information prism, then as a result of targeting information to a person, society or country, it is possible to achieve a kind of paralysis of any activity of the object of such information action when it falls under the influence of the subject of information influence. That is, the goal is to paralyze or minimize the relevant activity (military, political, cultural, etc.), and, thereby, to “neutralize” the ability of the object of such informational influence to resist the subject of informational influence. At the same time, its various forms are given: trolling; IPSO, their content and features are revealed, and examples of fake recognition mechanisms are given. It has been established that frustration, in addition to being a negative factor, plays a certain constructive role in the behavior of many people, when, thanks to its positive influence on the subject's psyche, achievement motives often become dominant in his motivational sphere, and the attractiveness of the set goal increases. The definition of the term “informational frustration” is provided – directing relevant information to a certain range of objects, with the aim of influencing (positively or negatively) their psychological state, which will contribute to the achievement of a certain goal for the subject of the dissemination of such information. Examples of the action of frustration in the political life of current Ukraine in its negative sense are given, which is a peculiar form of political struggle, and which leads to the activation of a peculiar affect of the so-called “existential frustration” – a negative phenomenon characterized by subjective experiences, apathy, inner emptiness, cynicism, does not contribute to the consolidation of society in the fight against the enemy.