Proponents of Albert Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy cite a construct or concept they call low frustration tolerance (LFT), or “short-term hedonism” in order to partly explain behaviors like procrastination and certain other apparently paradoxical or self-defeating behavior. It is defined as seeking immediate pleasure or avoidance of pain at the cost of long-term stress and defeatism.

The concept was originally developed by psychologist Albert Ellis who theorized that low frustration tolerance is an evaluative component in dysfunctional and irrational beliefs. Behaviors are then derived towards avoiding frustrating events which, paradoxically, lead to increased frustration and even greater mental stress.

In REBT the opposite construct is “high frustration tolerance”.

Furthermore, low frustration tolerance is characteristic of conditions such as:

Depression[1] Asperger’s syndrome[2] ADHD.[3]