The present study investigated whether frustration, a type of antisocial affect that has not been investigated in previous studies, reduces helping, and if so, whether an extended time between a request for help and the helping act itself mitigates any negative effects of frustration. Participants in Experiment 1 (N=116) received either an unsolvable/difficult anagram (intended to induce frustration) or an easy anagram, and then read a letter requesting volunteers for recording printed materials for visually-impaired students, either within 2‒3 days (near future) or 1 month later (distant future). Helping was measured as a decision to help and the numbers of pages participants were willing to record. In Experiment 2, a different group of participants (N=81) followed the same procedure; however, helping time interval was modified to within 4‒5 days (near future) versus 1 year later (distant future). There were no effects of mood or time on either decision to help or amount of helping in either Experiment. The results imply that frustration is qualitatively different from other forms of antisocial affect (e.g., anger), at least in terms of impact on helping decisions. Factors that might have contributed to the findings are discussed.

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