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The essence of boredom
... From this research, there is a consensus that boredom can be defined as a transient and unpleasant affective state that can both activate and deactivate individuals' cognition and behavior (Fisher, 1993;Watson & Tellegen, 1985), such as helping behavior (van Tilburg & Igou, 2017) and creativity (Park et al., 2019;Velasco, 2017). The feelings of boredom can be explained by three major accounts, including attentional/cognitive accounts (Eastwood et al., 2012;Smith & Ellsworth, 1985), functional/regulatory accounts (Bench & Lench, 2013Elpidorou, 2017Elpidorou, , 2018, and environmental accounts (Mikulas & Vodanovich, 1993). ...
... Therefore, job & Vodanovich, 1993;Reijseger et al., 2013). For example, Mikulas and Vodanovich (1993) define "boredom as a state of relatively low arousal and dissatisfaction [italics added], which is attributed to an inadequately stimulating situation" (p. 3). ...
... As individuals' state of burnout can change over time, burnout researchers highlight the importance of the dynamic aspect of burnout, as compared to its static level (Dunford et al., 2012). Likewise, job boredom refers to a transient and episodic affective state that changes over a short period of time (Mael & Jex, 2015;Mikulas & Vodanovich, 1993). Given that job boredom is an aversive and unpleasant experience in and of itself associated with stress and ill-being (e.g., van Hooff & van Hooft, 2014;Wan et al., 2014), we predict a positive within-person relationship between job boredom and burnout. ...
Job boredom is one of the most prevalent aversive states experienced in the workplace. Although researchers have examined the impact of job boredom on important workplace outcomes, the day-to-day experience of job boredom and individual strategies to reduce its negative influence remain largely unexplored. Therefore, we examined the within-person relationships of job boredom with daily job burnout and turnover intentions, as well as two potential moderators to alleviate the impact of job boredom—psychological detachment from work during work hours and perceived cyberloafing norms. Using a daily diary study over 10 consecutive workdays (three surveys per day), we sampled 1,160 daily observations nested within 120 individuals. Hypotheses were tested using multilevel modeling while controlling for previous-day (lagged) outcome variables. Our results showed that job boredom was positively related to job burnout at the within-person level while controlling for previous-day job burnout. However, job boredom was not related to turnover intentions at the within-person level. Neither psychological detachment nor perceived cyberloafing norms attenuated the relationships of job boredom with job burnout or turnover intentions; thus, our moderation hypotheses were not supported. Rather, contrary to our prediction, we found that psychological detachment reinforced the relationship between job boredom and job burnout. We discuss the implications of our findings, study limitations, and future research directions.
... Boredom at school is a commonly experienced achievement emotion (Pekrun, 2006;Pekrun et al., 2023) that comprises a unique combination of affective (experienced as negative and aversive), cognitive (dilatation of time), motivational (desire to escape from of modify situation), physiological (mostly reduced arousal), and expressive components (Fisher, 1993;Harris, 2000;Mikulas & Vodanovich, 1993;Scherer, 2000;Vodanovich & Watt, 2016). Attentional theories state that boredom is closely linked to attentional difficulties (e.g., Danckert et al., 2018;Eastwood et al., 2012) and occurs in situations of a mismatch between cognitive demands or environmental stimulation and available mental resources, that is, student over-and underchallenge (Carriere et al., 2008;Danckert & Merrifield, 2016;Daschmann et al., 2011;Eastwood et al., 2012;Westgate & Wilson, 2018;Struk et al., 2021). ...
... Importantly, underchallenged students do not necessarily make use of these concomitant cognitive resources, but the combination with boredom induces the search for meaningfulness and a state of equilibrium through additional cognitive stimulation by a broadened way of thinking. Therefore, underchallenge combined with boredom might enhance cognitive associative and creative thoughts (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014;Eastwood et al., 2012;Kasof, 1997;Krannich & Goetz, 2021;Mikulas & Vodanovich, 1993;Westgate & Wilson, 2018). ...
... This state is resolved by students' attempts to find cognitive stimulation through novel thoughts (Gasper & Middlewood, 2014), whereas overchallenged students fail to invest capacities into the creativity tasks due to depleted cognitive resources. It is therefore safe to suggest that "overchallenged and underchallenged boredom" may be considered a useful dichotomy of boredom with different cognitive and attentional consequences for various meaningful outcomes (Berlyne, 1960;Krannich et al., 2022;Krannich & Goetz, 2021;Merrifield & Danckert, 2014;Mikulas & Vodanovich, 1993;Westgate & Wilson, 2018) ...
This study examined the boredom–creativity link by including students’ levels of over- and underchallenge. Based on the Meaning and Attentional Components model and the Cognitive Load Theory, we proposed the negative effects of students’ boredom combined with being overchallenged on creativity, whereas boredom combined with being underchallenged might enhance creativity. We examined this hypothesis in mathematics classes in a sample of N = 119 German high school students (Mage = 13.86, grade 8). A random slope approach to interaction modeling was used to investigate the effects of boredom and overchallenge and of boredom and underchallenge. The results revealed significant interaction effects in the postulated directions and no conditional effects neither of boredom nor of over- or underchallenge on the first creativity task. Hence, higher levels of boredom combined with higher underchallenge were related to increased mathematical creativity, whereas higher boredom combined with higher overchallenge reduced creativity on the first task but not on tasks two and three. The study provides insights into how cognition and emotion interact regarding learning and creative behavior and offers practical implications for understanding how students experience boredom, particularly in relation to being either over- or underchallenged. This understanding can clarify the attentional and motivational consequences of this prevalent emotion, especially in mathematics.
... Acedia has an affective, even moral valence, whereas boredom is now perceived as a situation suffered, with an absence of stimulation from the environment and a state of low arousal (Mikulas &Vodanovich, 1993). Acedia, on the other hand, is defined as "a feeling of dullness, of absence of taste, an experience of meaninglessness that weakens the vital impulse and the capacity to love: acedia is a weighing down sadness that produces in the mind of man such a depression that he no longer has any desire to do anything" (Zawieja, 2016). ...
... Furthermore, the propensity to boredom has been associated with certain psychopathological disorders, notably those on the anorexia spectrum (depression, obsessive-compulsive or anxiety) (Mikulas & Vodanovich, 1993). It seems to us that generally boredom is rather quickly associated with an impossible "emotional regulation" or "sensation seeking" according to the clinician's theoretical frame of reference, thus forgetting this ontological possibility proper to boredom. ...
Boredom is a frequently expressed feeling in anorexia. However, boredom is rarely a subject of study. We propose that boredom has a central place in the understanding of anorexia. Boredom, in that it reveals the ontological condition of each one, pushes the subject to face its existence and the burden it constitutes. Anorexia would thus be an attempt to fight against boredom to avoid this ontological encounter. Certain characteristics of existence proposed by Heidegger are thus brought to the forefront: ability-to-be, temporality or the impossible banality. With the help of two clinical cases, we will see how boredom can also be a therapeutic lever in the treatment of anorexia.
... Boredom is a multifaceted psychological experience encompassing feelings of disinterest and lack of excitement toward the current activity or environment, indicating a state of mental disengagement or resistance (Mikulas & Vodanovich, 1993). In foreign language learning, boredom can be a commonly encountered subjective experience characterized by a lack of interest, engagement, or stimulation for FL learning tasks and activities . ...
There has been a growing emphasis on researching foreign language boredom in second language acquisition in recent years. However, existing research has yet to reach a consensus regarding the effect of foreign language boredom on learners’ learning achievement. To address this gap, the present study employs multilevel meta-analysis to analyze 47 effect sizes from 33 empirical studies involving a total sample size of 27,838 participants. The findings reveal that foreign language boredom illustrates a small negative effect ( r = -.24, p < .001) on language achievement. Furthermore, the moderation analysis reveals that the magnitude of the effect size varies crossing educational stages, achievement measurements, domain-specific language skills, foreign language boredom measurements, teaching modes, and learning contexts. This study provides robust evidence to support the detrimental role of foreign language boredom in language acquisition and identified substantive gaps in this research field, offering valuable directions for future research.
... The definition of monotony (boredom) postulates that "boredom is a feeling of unpleasure arising out of a conflict between a need for intense mental activity and lack of incitement to it, or inability to be incited" (Singh, 2016, p. 378) (Fenichel, 1953, p Boredom has been depicted as being due to both cognitive and attentional deficits (Fisher, 1998;Kass et al., 2010;Mikulas and Vodanovich, 1993), which usually emerges when "the individual feels a pervasive lack of interest in and difficulty concentrating on the current activity" (Whelan et al., 2020, p. 873) (Fisher, 1998 Table F.1 of appendix F (in supplementary data) also provides a complete list of current sample's sources which served to generate this information. Figure B.1 provides the source by year, broken down according to the five main types of sources reviewed: survey, interview, experiment, mix method, and multi method design. ...
Boredom is a ubiquitous emotion, whether in a moral, social, or practical sense. In the context of digital communications and business, extensive research has explored the ways in which this adverse sentiment influences the utilisation of digital technology. However, these studies have ignored this phenomenon in the context of online commerce. The present work aims to assess knowledge on boredom in this context. Through a review of 103 studies using grounded theory method for rigorous literature review, an inductive framework using five building blocks is built. From an individual’s perspective, the framework foregrounds that boredom is caused by individual, situational, and their mismatch factors. As a result of boredom’s self-regulatory function, individuals often search for internal and external stimulation from social commerce, resulting in both positive and negative outcomes. The findings of this study indicate that boredom is both a performance and a health barrier; however, proper understanding and intervention tactics that utilise constructive alleviation strategies can lead to promising results in self-development. Furthermore, the findings also indicate how regulated and unregulated boredom affects the market performance of online commerce and how preventing and regulating this emotion can lead to sales.
... It has many definitions such as lack of stimuli or reasons to engage in certain activities, engaging in monotonous activities or activities that don't exceed interest (Ndetei et al., 2023). Mikulas et al., define boredom as "state of relatively low arousal and dissatisfaction which is attributed to an inadequately stimulating situation" and Estwood et al., define it as "the aversive experience of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity" (Mikulas et al., 1993;. ...
Low back pain (LBP) affected more than 619 million individuals globally in 2020, and according to the Global Burden of Disease study, this number is projected to rise to 843 million by 2050, establishing LBP as one of the most prevalent health conditions of modern times. Among those affected, students represent a significant population, with prevalence rates reaching as high as 94% in some studies. Research suggests that prolonged lecture hours contribute to increased boredom among students, an emotion experienced universally and defined as a lack of stimulation or interest, engagement in monotonous activities, or activities perceived as unchallenging. Common causes of boredom for college students include lengthy classes, lack of activities, monotony, loneliness, and waiting periods. Boredom often manifests in altered body postures, such as slumped, hunched, or forward-leaning positions during extended sitting periods in classrooms. These postural changes are associated with a heightened risk of developing low back pain.
... Boredom could therefore be defined as a state of unease marked by a feeling of emptiness and refers to the test of time that seems to stretch on forever, without being able to end, giving rise to the painful experience of emptiness (Rengade, 2016). Cognitively, Mikulas and Vodanovich (1993) consider that boredom corresponds to a state of dissatisfaction and very low arousal, attributable to a situation (internal or external) perceived as insufficiently stimulating. The emotional aspect of boredom is the consequence of the frustration, either real or perceived, that arises from a situation causing dissatisfaction (Rengade, 2016). ...
This research involved developing a tool for measuring boredom state with a sample of Cameroonian workers. Boredom refers to a state of under-arousal, caused by the experience of an aversive situation of idleness, perceived as useless and discouraging (Rengade, 2016). Recent scientific literature highlights the adverse effects of boredom on workers' health and organisational performance (Vodanovich & Watt (2016). The lack of an operational tool to diagnose boredom at work limits the possibilities of managerial intervention aimed at developing appropriate managerial strategies. However, similar studies revealed an increase in the number of Cameroonian civil servants with work contracts, regular salaries, identified work stations, missions and work objectives to achieve, who report a permanent feeling of emptiness, monotony and dejection (Simaleu, 2021; Doumbeneny, 2021). We applied the cross-cultural validation procedure proposed by Vallerand (1989), to adapt the multidimensional state boredom instrument (MSBS) by Fahlman et al. to the Cameroonian context. The study was carried out in three stages with a sample of 469 civil servants. Our results are in line with the measurement model of the original version, which is a five-factor structure (low arousal, disengagement, high arousal, inattention and time perception). Despite the existing socio-cultural differences between the validation context of the original version and the Cameroonian context, the structure which is similar to the original version of the MSBS obtains better fit indices with the data collected from Cameroonian workers (CFI = .99; GFI: 0.99; SRMR = 0.05; RMSEA=.004). Since the Cameroonian version of the MSBS has been able to demonstrate adequate psychometric properties, it can therefore be used as a measure of boredom at work.
... The tendency of boredom that arises when interacting with others and causes phubbing in adolescents is called boredom proneness. Mikulas & Vodanovich (1993) define Boredom as a state of low arousal and dissatisfaction with an environment that is not adequately stimulating. Boredom is a brief state of lack of stimulation in which the individual is less interested in the surrounding environment, and cannot concentrate (Ng et al, 2015). ...
The direct association between teacher-student relationships and subjective well-being among
foreign language (FL) learners has been validated. Nevertheless, the indirect pathways through
which teacher-student relationships impact the subjective well-being of FL learners remain less
understood. Drawing from control-value theory, this research examined the mediating role of
emotions such as enjoyment and boredom in this relationship, and further investigated how so-
cioeconomic status (SES) influences these mediating effects, guided by social capital theory. A
total of 4,004 Chinese secondary school students from grades 7 to 9 (Mage = 13.47, SD = 0.62)
participated in this study. Data were collected using self-reported questionnaires on teacher-
student relationships, FL enjoyment, FL boredom, and subjective well-being. Mediation analysis
revealed that the link between teacher-student relationships and subjective well-being was
partially mediated via enjoyment and boredom in FL learning. Additionally, compared to low SES
learners, the effect of teacher-student relationships on reducing boredom and thereby improving
subjective well-being was more pronounced among high SES learners. These findings offer
practical insights for enhancing FL teaching and learning, as well as for refining FL teacher ed-
ucation programs.
This research presents a validation of an adaptation in French of the Boredom Proneness Scale (sp) intitled "Echelle de disposition a l'ennui" (EDE). Three studies were conducted to evaluate psychometric properties, construct validity and structural validity. A first study with student participants demonstrated acceptable fidelity (test-retest reliability, internal consistency...) and validity indices. However a confirmatory factor analysis did not support the unidimensional structure of the Boredom Proneness Scale. The second study with a sample of drug addicts assessed the validity of the scale using the "Known-Groups" method. Results supported the construct validity of the scale. A third study examined elderly persons. Results of this study point to the reliability and validity of the french version of the Boredom Proneness Scale. Furthermore, a bidimensionality of the boredom construct was found through an exploratory factor analysis.
The purpose of the present study is to describe the development of a theory-based instrument to measure individual differences in the disposition toward intrinsic motivation in leisure behavior, and to report data from nine studies examining the reliability and validity of the instrument (total n = 1866). Based on the conceptual work of Deci and Ryan (1985a), Kobasa (1979), and their associates, the Intrinsic Leisure Motivation Disposition is defined as a tendency to seek intrinsic rewards in leisure behavior. It is assumed that the strength of this tendency will differ across individuals, but will remain relatively stable within individuals and across situations. The 24-item Intrinsic Leisure Motivation (ILM) Scale displayed Cronbach alpha coefficients ranging from.872 to.913. The four theoretically derived subscales (Self-Determination, Competence, Commitment, Challenge), each with six items, had alphas ranging from.638 to.832. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to explore the structure of the four subscales. Construct validity data showed that the ILM scale correlated in the hypothesized manner with 13 other measures of theoretically related variables. In six studies that tested for gender differences in ILM scores, only one found significant differences. Discussion of possible research applications for the ILM Scale is presented.