Patience, Power, and Emotion Regulation

Abstract Patience is conceptualized in psychology as a disposition to wait calmly in the face of frustration or suffering for the sake of a good goal. This definition needs to be qualified to distinguish patience from dispositions, like deference, that can be problematic under conditions in which individuals or groups experience prolonged injustice. When a propensity to wait calmly in the face of suffering does not promote the flourishing of a person and their community, it is not appropriate to characterize that as the virtue of patience. Research on adaptive emotion regulation among adolescents proves illuminating in this connection. Adolescents generally find themselves in positions of lesser power and control, because they have to navigate differentials among their social and legal status and their developmental stage. Tolerating and downregulating frustration can be problematic under some circumstances; experiencing and channeling such emotions to engage in goal-directed behavior often contributes to long-term outcomes that are a part of their flourishing. Conceptualizing patience as goal-directed tolerance and downregulation of frustration in pursuit of a good goal, rather than a general disposition to downregulate or tolerate frustration independent of the goal content, addresses these concerns. This revisionary conception of patience makes it compatible with strategies in which frustration is harnessed to motivate action that promotes justice, safety, or the flourishing of a person and their community. Understanding patience in this way pushes against the weaponization of patience, which continues to perpetuate abuses of power.