You’re bored? Could you be more specific? Could you determine what type of boredom you are experiencing?
We have all felt bored on some occasion, but the truth is that Psychology has not dedicated much time to investigating this sensation, perhaps because boredom is very discreet, it does not manifest itself with attacks of crying or euphoria. However, the sensations it generates are very negative and different studies have linked it to both stress and drug and alcohol consumption.
Types of boredom
In the 1930s, psychologists finally took on the task of investigating boredom and discovered that there were different types. However, this theory did not find wide acceptance in the scientific community until Goetz, a psychologist at the University of Konstanz in Germany, took it up in 2006 and dedicated himself to cataloging boredom.
Thus he discovered that, depending on the level of emotional activation and the sensations experienced, there were four types of boredom. These are:
– Indifferent boredom: refers to the need to isolate oneself from the environment that surrounds one, assuming an attitude of indifference that allows them to reach a certain state of relaxation. The essential thing about this type of boredom is that no negative emotions are experienced.
– Calibration boredom: it is accompanied by a certain degree of uncertainty since people want to do something but do not know what. The emotions experienced are slightly more negative and thoughts wander aimlessly, but without seeking alternatives that allow them to escape the monotony.
– Search boredom: the person feels a state of inner restlessness so they try to eliminate it by looking for a distraction. In this case, a higher level of activation is experienced and we usually think about the different activities that could get us out of that state.
– Reactive boredom: the person feels more unhappy, angry or irritable. This boredom is the response to a specific situation, such as when we are listening to a boring lecture and we want to escape but we can’t.
Apathetic boredom
Goetz has not stopped studying this phenomenon and has now discovered a new type of boredom: apathetic boredom. The most interesting thing is that 36% of the experiences of boredom we experience are precisely due to apathy.
Without hesitation, he recruited 63 college students and 80 high school students. Each was given a laptop that was programmed to ring six times a day, at random. At that moment the students had to indicate what they were doing and how they were feeling. If they reported feeling bored, they had to be even more specific about their ideas, sensations, and emotions.
The results confirmed the existence of the four types of boredom that had been previously identified, but a new modality was also observed: apathetic boredom. What does it consist of?
People experiencing apathetic boredom reported very unpleasant negative emotions, comparable to the level of reactive boredom, except that they did not experience irritability or anger but rather a state of apathy quite similar to that evident in depressive symptoms. These people reported feeling bored but, at the same time, incapable of seeking solutions or experiencing intense emotions beyond apathy.
As a final point, it is worth clarifying that although we usually see boredom as a negative state, there are also studies that indicate that boredom has a positive side because it can stimulate creativity and self-knowledge, it all depends on how we face this state and the emotions that arise.
Source:
Goetz, T. et. Al. (2013) Types of boredom: An experience approach sampling. Motivation and Emotion 38: 401–419.
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