Exploring boring people and dog breeds’ behavior

Abstract

Studying a stereotype All of us, at one time or another, have probably encountered someone we might describe as dull, uninteresting, and having no sense of humor—in other words, boring. But the perception that some people are boring is, ironically, an interesting subject of psychological study. A recent paper, “Boring People: Stereotype Characteristics, Interpersonal Attributions, and Social Reactions,” dug into the content of the “boring” label and what its implications might be ( Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2022, DOI: 10.1177/01461672221079104 ). “Stereotypes are impactful. People have ideas about other people and groups,” says study coauthor Eric R. Igou, head of the Psychology Department at the University of Limerick. “These ideas shape the way we relate to others, and how we relate to others creates realities for all involved.” Igou, along with Wijnand A. P. van Tilburg of the University of Essex and Mehr Panjwani of the London School of Economics