Boredom Proneness Research Articles

Journey into the Virtual Realm: Exploring Gaming Addiction, Sensation Seeking, and Boredom Proneness in Arabic Special Learners

Addiction to video games begins as a harmless pastime but may quickly spiral out of control, affecting every aspect of one’s life. Research helps determine why some people are drawn to video games and have a short attention span and a penchant for risky activities. Gaming caters to the boredom-prone and sensation-seeking natures common among young people, who are also more likely to try new activities without considering the consequences. Pathological problems and abnormal behaviours can be avoided by just being aware of the effects of gaming and how people respond to them. The current study focuses on college students’ propensity for gaming addiction, sensation seeking, and boredom. One hundred individuals (50 men and 50 women) were assessed using Gaming Addiction Scale (GAS), Arnett’s Inventory of Sensation Seeking (AISS), and Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS). The findings show a strong relationship between compulsive gaming, the desire for novel experiences, and the tendency to get bored quickly. Thus, a person’s propensity towards experience seeking and ennui is profoundly affected by their gaming addiction.

Exploring EEG resting state as a function of boredom proneness in pre-adolescents and adolescents.

Boredom is a prominent experience commonly reported in school settings and associated with poor academic achievement. Little is known, however, about the age-related trajectory of boredom. Here we examined self-reported ratings of boredom in a cross-sectional sample of 8 to 15-year olds (n = 185) as a function of resting state EEG. Results indicated that reports of boredom in school rose as a function of age. Resting state EEG showed a decrease in theta power with age perhaps reflective of increased control. While no effects were evident in beta and alpha bands, we did observe an interaction between boredom and age for frontal asymmetry such that for those higher in boredom, the asymmetry increased with age. Finally, for theta to beta ratios there were main effects of age (i.e., a decrease in theta/beta ratio with age) and boredom such that those higher in boredom had higher theta/beta ratios over frontal and central brain areas. The results are discussed in the context of prior work on school-related boredom and provide several important avenues for further research.

Effects of Idle Time on Well-Being: An Experimental Study

Abstract: Idle time is a time during which employees are unable to complete work tasks for reasons beyond their control, which negatively impacts their performance and well-being. However, it has not yet been examined whether the objective event or the subjective appraisal of this situation causes these effects. Drawing on affective events theory, we conducted an experiment ( N = 338) in which we manipulated objective idle time and measured the effects on well-being, mediated by subjective idle time. We found that objective idle time positively predicted subjective idle time, which in turn was negatively related to affect but not to task satisfaction. We found indirect effects of objective idle time on affect through subjective idle time. Boredom proneness was positively and age was negatively associated with subjective idle time. The results are consistent with affective events theory and suggest that idle time is appraised as such and negatively influences affect.

The Application of the Metacognitive Model of Desire Thinking and Craving in Problematic Social Networking Sites Use

Cognitive models of addictive behaviours have highlighted the central role of Desire Thinking (DT) – a conscious and voluntary cognitive process orienting to prefigure images and information about a positive target-related experience – in increasing craving and maintaining addictive behaviors. The metacognitive model of DT and craving posits that metacognition plays a central role in understanding dysregulation in DT. The current study aims to test the role of metacognitions about DT, DT, and craving in the relationship between Fear of Missing Out (FoMo), boredom proneness, negative emotional reactivity and Problematic Social Network Sites Use (PSNSU). A sample of 529 participants (Mage= 32.45 ± 13.33; F = 62.9%) completed an online survey. The hypothesised model produced an adequate fit to the data and accounted for 86% of PSNSU variance. FoMO predicted positive metacognitions about DT (PMDT), which predicted DT that, in association with craving, predicted PSNSU. Boredom proneness positively predicted PSNSU directly and indirectly through the serial mediation of PMDT, DT, and craving. A direct path between negative emotional reactivity and PSNSU was found. The current findings provide preliminary evidence for applying the metacognitive model of DT and craving in PSNSU. PMDT and DT may be central cognitive processes in craving and PSNSU for individuals who experience boredom proneness and FoMo.

Examining the Association Between Boredom Proneness and Bedtime Procrastination Among Chinese College Students: A Sequential Mediation Model with Mobile Phone Addiction and Negative Emotions.

The phenomenon of bedtime procrastination has become very common in China in recent years, especially among college students, and it can have numerous negative implications for both physical and mental health. However, the impacting factors and possible underlying mechanisms of bedtime procrastination have not yet been fully clarified. The present study aims to explore the relationship between boredom proneness and bedtime procrastination in Chinese college students, and propose a multiple mediation model to further explore the mediating effects of mobile phone addiction and negative emotions in this link. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 668 Chinese college students aged 18 to 32 years old (M=20.36 years [SD=1.69]; 35.03% male). A series of self-rating questionnaires measuring degrees of boredom proneness, mobile phone addiction, bedtime procrastination, as well as negative emotions (depression, anxiety and stress) were administered. The results showed that boredom proneness, mobile phone addiction, negative emotions and bedtime procrastination were significantly and positively correlated with each other in college students. Mobile phone addiction and negative emotions separately played partial mediating roles in the relationship between boredom proneness and bedtime procrastination. Furthermore, a sequential mediation pathway was significant whereby boredom proneness predicted mobile phone addiction, which was associated with higher levels of negative emotions, which were then associated with more bedtime procrastination behaviors. The present findings indicate that both mobile phone addiction and negative emotions are important risk-enhancing mediators in the association between boredom proneness and bedtime procrastination in Chinese college students. Therefore, intervention management that concentrating on reducing mobile phone addiction as well as improving negative emotions may be useful for decreasing bedtime procrastination among college students.

Associations Between Trait Boredom and Frequency of Cannabis, Alcohol, and Tobacco Use in College Students.

Boredom is a common emotion associated with substance use in college students - a group already at risk for substance misuse. The purpose of this study is to understand how two types of trait boredom (susceptibility and proneness) in college students are associated with frequency of cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco use. Data were collected from an online survey completed by a sample of undergraduate students (N = 414, Mage = 19.55, 84.5% female; 64.3% White) enrolled at a large public university in the northwest. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between trait boredom and frequency of cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco use after controlling for age, sex, and race. Boredom susceptibility was a significant predictor of annual, monthly, and weekly cannabis and alcohol use, but only annual and monthly tobacco use. Boredom proneness was only a significant predictor for monthly alcohol use. Findings were generally consistent across types of substances and frequency of use for boredom susceptibility, indicating students higher in susceptibility, rather than proneness, are a subgroup to target prevention interventions to alleviate boredom and subsequent maladaptive coping mechanisms.

Why Cannot I Stop Phubbing? Boredom Proneness and Phubbing: A Multiple Mediation Model.

With the popularity of smartphone and their increasingly rich functions, people's attachment to their phones is increasing. While people enjoy the convenience that smartphone bring (eg, accessing information and socializing), it also leads to problematic smartphone use (eg, phubbing). Previous research has shown that boredom proneness can trigger phubbing. However, the underlying psychological mechanisms are not yet clear. To address this research gap, we surveyed 556 Chinese college students (Mage = 18.89 years, SD = 1.18) during the COVID-19 pandemic and all participants completed a self-report questionnaire. Drawing the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution model (I-PACE) for addictive behaviors, this study developed and examined a multiple mediation model incorporating boredom proneness, loneliness, fear of missing out (FoMO), and phubbing. (1) Boredom proneness could positively predict phubbing; (2) loneliness and FoMO mediated the relationship between boredom proneness and phubbing, respectively; and (3) loneliness and FoMO sequentially mediated the relationship between boredom proneness and phubbing. These findings are not only valuable for understanding the underlying mechanisms linking boredom proneness and phubbing, but also suggest that three types of interventions could be effectively used to decrease the risk of phubbing among college students, namely, reducing boredom proneness, relieving loneliness, and decreasing FoMO.

Emotional overeating affected nine in ten female students during the COVID-19 university closure: A cross-sectional study in France.

To estimate the proportion of female university students reporting overeating (EO) in response to emotions during the COVID-19 university closures, and to investigate social and psychological factors associated with this response to stress. Online survey gathered sociodemographic data, alcohol/drugs use disorders, boredom proneness and impulsivity using validated questionnaires, and EO using the Emotional Overeating Questionnaire (EOQ) assessing eating in response to six emotions (anxiety, sadness, loneliness, anger, fatigue, happiness), whose structure remains to be determined. Sample of 302 female students from Rennes University, France. Frequencies of emotional overeating. The frequency of emotional overeating was expressed for each emotion as percentages. Exploratory Factor analyses (EFA) were used to determine EOQ structure and provide an index of all EOQ items used for further analysis. Linear regression models were used to explore relationships between EO and others covariates. Nine in ten participants reported intermittent EO in the last 28 days, mostly during 6 to 12 days, in response to Anxiety (75.5%), Sadness (64.5%), Happiness (59.9%), Loneliness (57.9%), Tiredness (51.7%), and to a lesser extent to Anger (31.1%). EFA evidenced a one-factor latent variable reflecting "Distress-Induced Overeating" positively correlated with internal boredom proneness, tobacco use, attentional impulsivity, inability to resist emotional cues, and loss of control over food intake, and negatively with age and well-being. EO was unrelated to body mass index or substance abuse. Nine in ten female students reported emotional overeating during the COVID-19 university closure. This response to stress was related to eating tendencies typical of young women, but also to personality/behavioral patterns such as boredom and impulsivity proneness. Better understanding of the mechanisms underlying EO in response to stress and lack of external/social stimulation would improve preventive interventions.

Do mobile phone addiction, boredom proneness, and self-reported mindfulness predict pedestrian beliefs on distracted walking?

Pedestrian distraction is a major causal factor reported in pedestrian fatalities worldwide. Even though many observational studies and laboratory-based research have been conducted to examine the influence of pedestrian distraction on road safety, there is little understanding of the determinants of pedestrian beliefs that influence distracted walking behaviour. The present study examines the associations of pedestrian beliefs related to engagement in mobile phone distraction with psychological factors such as mobile phone addiction, boredom proneness, and mindfulness. Five hundred and fifty-one participants completed a questionnaire about their distraction beliefs (behavioural, normative, and control), mobile phone addiction, boredom proneness, and mindfulness. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was developed to investigate the influence of mobile phone addiction, boredom proneness, and mindfulness on the three types of beliefs. Mobile phone addiction was significantly associated with behavioural beliefs (factor loading = 0.38) and control beliefs (factor loading = 0.23) but not with normative beliefs. Further, significant associations of boredom proneness were observed with all three types of beliefs: behavioural (factor loading = 0.15), normative (factor loading = 0.13), and control (factor loading = 0.15). Mindfulness showed significant relationships with normative beliefs (factor loading = 0.13) and control beliefs (factor loading = 0.11) but not with behavioural beliefs. This study is the first attempt to investigate the predictors of pedestrian distraction beliefs in the Indian context. The findings can assist the policymakers in understanding the pedestrian psychology behind their distracted walking behaviour.

The role of boredom proneness and self-control in the association between anxiety and smartphone addiction among college students: a multiple mediation model.

Smartphone addiction has been found to be a widespread public health issue, especially among youth. Previous studies reported a significant association between anxiety and smartphone addiction, but the underlying mechanism in this relationship is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating roles of boredom proneness and self-control in the relationship between anxiety and smartphone addiction. Self-reported measures of anxiety, boredom proneness, self-control and smartphone addiction were administered to 1,526 Chinese college students. Smartphone addiction scores varied between 10 and 60 with an average of 30.89 ± 10.57 points. Anxiety had a direct and positive effect on smartphone addiction (effect = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.11-0.25), and an indirect effect on smartphone addiction through boredom proneness (effect = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.06-0.15) and self-control (effect = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.13-0.20). Boredom proneness and self-control sequentially mediated the relationship between anxiety and smartphone addiction (effect = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.10-0.15). Anxiety is positively associated with smartphone addiction, and boredom proneness and self-control are important mediators in this relationship. Strengthening self-control and mitigating boredom could prevent smartphone addiction in anxious college students.

Life Events, Boredom Proneness and Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency: A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis Based on Latent Growth Modeling (LGM).

Mobile phone addiction has motivated a widespread concern in recent years. From a developmental perspective, this study explored the predictive relations between life events, boredom proneness (BP), and mobile phone addiction tendency (MPAT) among undergraduate students. It also tested the longitudinal mediation of BP between life events and MPAT. Five hundred and eighty-four undergraduate students completed the Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale, the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist, and the Boredom Proneness Scale-Short Form. A longitudinal mediation analysis based on latent growth modeling was conducted to test the hypothesized relationships among life events, BP and MPAT. Latent growth modeling (LGM) showed that the BP and MPAT of undergraduate students both increased linearly. A longitudinal model based on LGM showed that negative life events both directly and indirectly affected the initial level and the growth rate of the MPAT through the mediating effect of the initial level of BP. These results reveal that negative life events are an indicator of the development of MPAT. It has practical implications for calling for adopting health coping styles when facing negative life events. Supported for reducing college students' boredom proneness in order to lessen the tendency towards mobile phone addiction to improve their mental health.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Malaysians: A Cross-sectional Study

The COVID-19 pandemic is a significant public health threat with wide-reaching psychological implications. The drastic changes in lifestyle due to the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) were associated with adverse effects on mental health. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of anxiety among Malaysians during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors. The following questionnaires were self-administered online through google form which included: (i) Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7; (ii) Short Boredom Proneness Scale; (iii) Short Scale for Measuring Loneliness in Large Surveys; and (iv) The World Health Organisation (WHO) well-being index. Higher scores denoted higher levels of anxiety, boredom, loneliness, and well-being. Out of the 543 participants, more than half (55.2%) reported mild (25.6%), moderate (13.8%) to severe (19.8%) anxiety. Multiple logistic regression showed higher odds of moderate to severe anxiety were reported among those divorced/separated/widowed (aOR 6.778, 95% CI [1.200, 38.296]), adults aged 25 to 34 years (aOR 2.038, 95% CI [1.049, 3.958]), 35 to 44 years (aOR 2.279, 95% CI [1.064, 4.882]), and with higher boredom levels (aOR 1.063, 95% CI [1.035, 1.092]). One in five Malaysians surveyed experienced severe anxiety. Adults within the working age range (between 25 and 44 years old) were at higher odds of having anxiety. Boredom increased the odds of anxiety compared to loneliness, well-being and coping. Thus, addressing the risk factors through public health messages is deemed important.

Correction to: Mediating Roles of Fear of Missing Out and Boredom Proneness on Psychological Distress and Social Media Addiction Among Indian Adolescents

Correction to: Mediating Roles of Fear of Missing Out and Boredom Proneness on Psychological Distress and Social Media Addiction Among Indian Adolescents

Mitigating Social Fatigue

With the increasing technology adoption across all ages throughout the population, number of social media users increases and shows no stopping. Positive benefits of social media are widely reported with increased in well-being and life satisfaction. On the other hand, many users have decided to take a social media detox or even discontinue to use social media as they feel fatigued by it. This research aims to study what factors that may lead users to social media fatigue as well as provide possible solutions to help users derived more positive benefits compared to negative ones. This study is conducted through an online survey with 115 samples with most coming from Gen- Z and millennials, the samples are then analyzed with the SMART PLS 4 software. The study findings are that the three variables: boredom proneness, information overload and depression have correlation to social media fatigue with information overload being the most significant as seen from p value (0,0000). The study concludes that these three variables have positive significance to social media fatigue.

Understanding Disengagement in Just-in-Time Mobile Health Interventions

Just-in-time (JIT) intervention aims to proactively detect a user's problematic behaviors and deliver interventions at an opportune moment to facilitate target behaviors. However, prior studies have shown that JIT intervention may suffer from user disengagement, a phenomenon in which a user's level of engagement with intervention apps and target behaviors declines over time. In this study, we aimed to deepen our understanding of disengagement in a mobile JIT intervention system. As a case study, we conducted a user study with college students (n = 54) for eight weeks to understand how disengagement appears over time and what factors influence user disengagement. Our findings reveal that personal traits, such as boredom proneness and self-control issues, are closely related to disengagement, with key factors including 1) boredom and habituation related to repetitive and monotonous JIT interventions, 2) inopportune alarm, 3) distrust for the JIT feedback mechanism, and 4) a lack of motivation due to low rewards. We provide theoretical and practical design guidelines for follow-up studies on JIT intervention system design.

Mediating Roles of Fear of Missing Out and Boredom Proneness on Psychological Distress and Social Media Addiction Among Indian Adolescents.

The closure of schools and other educational institutes around the world has been one of the consequences of the COVID-19 and has resulted in online teaching. To facilitate online teaching, there has been an increase in the use of smartphones and tablets among adolescents. However, such enhancement in technology use may put many adolescents at the risk of problematic use of social media. Consequently, the present study explored the direct relationship of psychological distress with social media addiction. The relationship between the two was also assessed indirectly via the fear of missing out (FoMO) and boredom proneness. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 505 Indian adolescents aged 12 to 17years, studying in grades 7 to 12. Standardized tools (with some modifications to suit the context of the present study) were used to collect data. The results showed significant positive associations between psychological distress, social media addiction, FoMO, and boredom proneness. Psychological distress was found to be a significant predictor of social media addiction. Moreover, FoMO and boredom proneness partially mediated the relationships between psychological distress and social media addiction. The present study is the first to provide evidence for the specific pathways of FoMO and boredom proneness in the relationships between psychological distress and social media addiction.

어떤 성격의 사람이 권태에 취약할까?

The present study examined which personality traits are vulnerable to boredom by exploring the relationship between 6 factors of boredom proneness and personality (HEXACO model). We collected data from 168 university students and conducted a multiple regression analysis. The analysis showed that extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness were significantly negatively related to internal boredom proneness, with these three factors explaining about 47% of the variance. Honesty/humility, extraversion, and agreeableness were also significantly negatively related to external boredom proneness, explaining about 22% of the variance. Extraversion showed significant relationships with both boredom proneness factors. This study enhances our psychological understanding of the effects of interanal and exteranal boredom proness on the six personality factors of HEXACO model, highlighting the need for future a multidimensional reseach on boredom.

MEASURING BOREDOM DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The aim of this study was to translate into Spanish and validate the Boredom Proneness Scale-Short (SBPS) in a sample of young people and adults in Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 588 people between 17 and 53 years of age (M = 21.70; SD = 5.22) was selected as a sample. The methodology used combined Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Item Response Theory (IRT) to determine the internal structure, factor weights and reliability, which was estimated by means of the omega coefficient test information functioning and empirical or marginal reliability. Evidence of convergent validity of the SBPS was explored based on its relationship with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-2) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2). Results reveal that the SBPS is a measure that should be interpreted uni-dimensionally. Reliability was excellent and convergence with the GAD-2 and PHQ-2 presented the expected relationship in both magnitude and direction.

An Empirical Analyses of Relationships between Boredom Proneness and Motivational Regulation of College Students

이 연구에서는 권태성향과 학습 동기조절의 개념을 다루고, 대학생 173명을 대상으로 하여 권태성향과 학습 동기조절 변인과의 관계를 규명하였다. 권태성향 변인의 하위요인은 ‘내적 권태성향’, ‘외적 권태성향’이고, 학습 동기조절은 ‘가치조절’, ‘자기-결과적 조치’, ‘수행적 자기지시’, ‘환경 구조화’, ‘숙달적 자기 지시’,‘흥미 강화 전략’이다. 권태성향 변인의 하위요인과 학습 동기조절 변인의 하위요인 간에 Pearson 적률상관 분석결과, 내적 권태성향과 동기조절의 하위요인은 부적 관계(r=-.04 ~ -.41)로 나타났으며, 은 .17로 통계적으로 유의하였지만, 외적 권태성향은 다른 동기조절전략과의 상관이 통계적으로 유의하지 않았다. 학습 동기조절의 하위요인을 개별 종속변인으로 하고 권태성향의 하위요인을 독립변인으로 한 중다회귀분석 결과, 동기조절 변인 중 수행적 자기지시를 종속변인으로 한 모형을 제외하고 다른 5개 모형은 통계적으로 유의하였다. 또한 내적 권태성향은 종속변인인 동기조절을 부적으로 예측하였으며, 이는 통계적으로 유의하였다. 그러나 외적 권태성향은 종속변인인 동기조절의 하위요인 중 환경구조화(p<.05)만을 정적으로 예측하였다. 이상의 결과를 기초로 하여 권태성향과 학습 동기조절에 대한 시사점을 제언하였다.The concept of and the relationships between boredom proneness and motivational regulation were investigated using 173 college students. Relationships between 'internal' and 'external’ boredom proneness subscales and six subscales(value regulation, performance self-talk, self-consequating, environmental structuring, interest enhancement, mastery self-talk) of motivational regulation were investigated. The correlations among internal boredom proneness variables and the motivational regulation variables ranged from r =-.04 to -.41, and all showed statistically significant negative relationships except for those of performance self-talk and environmental structuring. The relationship between external boredom proneness and other motivational regulation strategies were not statistically significant (p>.05) except for the relationship with environmental structuring (b=.166, p< .05). Multiple regression analysis with the motivational regulation subscales as respective dependent variables and internal and external boredom proneness as independent variables were conducted. Except for the regression model with performance self-talk, all the rest five regression models were statistically significant. The regression model showed that except for environmental structuring as an outcome, internal boredom proneness predicted motivational regulation outcomes statistically significantly. However, except for environmental structuring, the external boredom proneness did not work as a statistically significant predictor of the motivational regulation subscales. Based on the above results, suggestions for boredom proneness and motivational regulation for learning were made.

Association between Personality Traits and Phubbing: The Co-Moderating Roles of Boredom and Loneliness

Phubbing is defined as the use of one's phone while in a conversation, leading to a disconnection from interpersonal communications. This topic has become more interesting lately due to the increased use of smartphones worldwide and in Lebanon, where 86% of the population owns a smartphone. This study aims to assess the association between phubbing and personality traits with the moderating effects of loneliness and boredom proneness. This cross-sectional study was conducted between August-September 2020. 461 participants (18-29 years) filled out the survey. Higher open-mindedness was associated with less phubbing. Being married compared to single and higher open-mindedness were significantly associated with less phubbing. More boredom was significantly associated with more phubbing. The interaction extraversion by boredom was significantly associated with phubbing; this was significant at low levels of loneliness and boredom where extraversion was significantly associated with more phubbing. At moderate loneliness and high boredom and at high loneliness and boredom, extraversion was significantly associated with less phubbing. The interactions between boredom and loneliness and the other four personality traits did not show any significant association with phubbing. The current study highlights the importance of personality traits in influencing phubbing and might contribute to the preliminary assessment of phubbing. Healthcare professionals might be able to use the data of this study to implement appropriate smartphone use habits, as this would help patients improve their social relationships.