Examining boredom: Different causes for different coping profiles

Abstract

Research has shown that boredom impedes students' academic functioning. Although recent studies have identified varying causes of boredom in school settings and the effectiveness of cognitive-approach coping in managing this negative emotion, little is known about how the perceived causes of boredom relate to coping with boredom. According to the contextual approach to coping, certain forms of coping may be linked to different situational causes of boredom. Therefore, the purposes of this study were twofold: First, we examined university students' strategies to cope with boredom using person-centered data analytical approach. Second, we evaluated how the identified boredom coping profiles differed according to particular causes of boredom using a variable-centered data analytical approach. We identified three boredom coping profiles consistent with previous findings—Reappraisers, Criticizers, and Evaders. Significant differences in eight antecedents to boredom were found among the three profiles. We discuss the implications of the findings for instructors and students.