boredom

Introduction

Boredom is a complex emotional state characterized by a lack of stimulation and dissatisfaction. It has significant cognitive, affective, and psychophysiological components, and its implications span various aspects of life, including performance, well-being, and mental health.

Key Insights

Cognitive and Affective Components:
- Boredom involves subjective monotony and high levels of frustration .
- It is defined as a state of low arousal and dissatisfaction due to an inadequately stimulating situation.
Psychophysiological Aspects:
- No clear psychophysiological component of boredom has been detected; changes in heart rate and variability are more related to task features like mental load rather than boredom itself.
Emotional and Motivational Consequences:
- Boredom is associated with diminished performance efficiency, general life satisfaction, and health.
- It can lead to both high arousal (frustration) and low arousal (depressed affect) depending on situational factors like task autonomy.
Distinctive Features of Boredom:
- Boredom is distinct from other negative emotions like sadness, anger, and frustration, as it makes people feel unchallenged and perceive their actions as meaningless.
Situational and Contextual Influences:
- Task autonomy can influence whether boredom results in frustration or depressed affect. Low autonomy tends to increase frustration, while high autonomy can lead to depressed affect.
- Contextual features significantly affect the experience of boredom, making it a multifaceted emotional state.
Positive Aspects of Boredom:
- Boredom can be a regulatory psychological state that promotes personal growth and the construction of a meaningful life.
Workplace Boredom:
- Boredom at work is influenced by task attributes, environment, person, and person-environment fit. Individual responses to boredom vary widely.

Conclusion

Boredom is a multifaceted emotional state with cognitive, affective, and situational components. It can lead to both high and low arousal states, depending on the context, and has significant implications for performance, well-being, and mental health. While often seen negatively, boredom can also promote personal growth and meaning in life. Understanding the various dimensions of boredom can help in managing its effects in different settings, including the workplace.

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Towards a model of boredom.

Boredom is a cognitive and affective experience influenced by personality, situational, and task characteristics, with no clear psychophysiological component currently identified.

Boredom: practical consequences and a theory.

Boredom is a unique psychophysiological state with practical consequences including diminished performance efficiency, life satisfaction, and health, and a theoretical model is presented.

The essence of boredom.

Boredom is a state of low arousal and dissatisfaction in an inadequately stimulating situation, with various definitions and perspectives on its meaning and application.

The state of boredom: Frustrating or depressing?

Task autonomy plays a crucial role in determining whether boredom is associated with high or low arousal affective reactions, with higher autonomy leading to more frustration and lower autonomy leading to more depressed affect.

The good of boredom

Boredom can promote well-being by contributing to personal growth and the construction of a meaningful life.

On boredom: Lack of challenge and meaning as distinct boredom experiences

Boredom is distinct from other negative experiences in that it makes people feel unchallenged and think the situation and their actions are meaningless, distinct from other negative emotions.

Boredom at Work: A Neglected Concept

Boredom at work is influenced by task, environment, person, and person-environment fit, and can be managed through individual responses.

Boredom

Boredom's history and meaning have varied across cultures, indicating it is not a modern phenomenon but rather a multidimensional experience influenced by geographical and linguistic barriers.

Cognitive and affective aspects of boredom.

Boredom is associated with subjective monotony and high frustration, but not with stimulation lacking meaning for the individual.

Boredom: Under-aroused and restless

Boredom is a low arousal state, associated with mind-wandering and sleepiness, and is associated with increased restlessness when experienced last.

Try another search