Boredom

Source: Why is boredom interesting

Why do people get bored

• too much constraint or too little stimulation or arousal
• something amiss with environment
• Boredom conveys information
• alerts us when we're not able to pay attention or find meaning in what we're doing
• "there's no value in continuing the current CORA "as is"
• It's not enough to just pay attention or find meaning—both are necessary
• boredom is a special case of a broader ability-motivation framework that applies to psychology more generally
  • a psychological "Exit row" where people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are determined by their perception or what they are willing and able to do
• attention boredom
  • caused by attention deficits
  • difficulty concentrating, mind wandering, inattention
• Meaningless boredom
  • high arousal
  • feelings of sadness and loneliness and distorted time perception
• Mixed boredom = both

Boredom regulation

• causes wide range of behaviors
  • positive: prosocial intentions, daydreaming
  • negative: self-induced electric shock, substance use
  • neutral: snacking
• Regulate cognitive demands
  • make the task harder or easier until it's a good fit
  • simple tasks can be combined into more complex ones
  • add a time limit to amke it harder
  • add external attentional demands
  • listening to radio
  • snacking creative mind wandering
• Regulate cognitive resources
  • caffeine
  • sleep
  • alcohol, weed
• regulate goal value
  • need to adjust goal or activities until both are in alignment
  • can increase perceived value in cases where they are aligned already
  • mentally reframing activities to be more meaningful
  • introducing new goals (speed coasting)
• switch activity
  • serves dual purpose of fixing attention and meaning deficits simultaneously

5 Types of boredom

1. Indifferent
   1. most neutral
   2. calm and withdrawn
   3. "relaxation"
   4. "cheerful fatigue"
2. calibrating
   1. wandering thoughts and not knowing what to do
   2. what to change your environment or behavior but aren't actively finding alternatives
   3. common when performing repetitive tasks
3. searching
   1. defined by sense of unpleasantly restfulness and active search for ways to minimize boredom
4. reactant
   1. feelings of aggression
   2. motivates people to leave boring situation and avoid those responsible for it
   3. have persistent thoughts about specific, more highly valued alternative solutions
5. apathetic
   1. deeper, more negative state of mind
   2. can be linked to feelings of helplessness and depression as well as destructive behaviors