Located within the fields of motivation and coping, this report examinesthe phenomenon of internship frustration to explore its major causes andconsequences. The qualitative study relies on 181 internship reports and 10in-depth interviews. The subjects are students of the department of Politicsand Administration at the University of Konstanz (Germany). A combinedanalysis reveals that major triggers of internship frustration are insufficientsupervision and unchallenging, repetitive tasks as well as an adverse organizationalculture. Subsequent consequences of interns’ frustration areresignation and intention to turnover, but also increased levels of learnings.In contrast to employee frustration, it is shown that interns’ reactions tofrustration are more likely to be carried out mentally. Therefore, acts of violenceand aggression are a rare phenomenon, due to incipiently lower levelsof self-consciousness of the intern in the working world. Furthermore,implications for employers, HR departments, universities and students areoutlined, accompanied by theoretical insights concerning stage models ofinternships and ideas for future research.
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