Bored into depletion? Towards a tentative integration of perceived self-control exertion and boredom as guiding signals for goal-directed behavior

Abstract

During the past two decades, self-control research has been dominated by the strength model of self-control which is built on the premise that the capacity for self-control is a limited global resource that can become temporarily depleted, resulting in a state called ego depletion. The foundations of ego depletion have recently been questioned. Thus, although self-control is among the most researched psychological concepts with high societal relevance, an inconsistent body of literature limits our understanding of how self-control operates. Here, we propose that the inconsistencies are partly due to a confound that has unknowingly and systematically been introduced into ego depletion research: Boredom. We propose that boredom might affect results of self-control research by 1) placing an unwanted self-control demand, and 2) signaling that one should explore behavioral alternatives. To account for boredom in self-controlled behavior, we provide a working model that integrates evidence from reward-based models of self-control and recent theorizing on boredom to explain effects of both self-control exertion and boredom on subsequent self-control performance. We propose that task-induced boredom should be systematically monitored in self-control research to assess the validity of the ego depletion effect.

Lost by definition: Why boredom matters for psychology and society

“…Boredom and fatigue may have more in common than previously realized: notably, participants find boring tasks (e.g., passively observing number strings) even more fatiguing than cognitively effortful versions of the same task (e.g., mentally adding three to each digit of a four‐digit number; Milyavaskaya et al, 2019). Other researchers have also noted this, advancing theories explicitly linking boredom to ego depletion (Wolff & Martarelli, 2020).…”

High Boredom Proneness and Low Trait Self-Control Impair Adherence to Social Distancing Guidelines during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Here, we focus on boredom—a correlate of social distancing—and self-control, a powerful psychological correlate of adaptive behavior [ 10 ]. Recent theorizing has linked both constructs, suggesting that experiences accompanying boredom and self-control subserve critical functions in orienting goal-directed behavior, namely to switch activity or to withdraw effort, respectively [ 11 ]. Importantly, individual differences on the trait level are expected to affect the strength of these signals.…”

“…Indeed, although boredom is a relatively ubiquitous experience [ 12 ], social distancing seems ideally suited to amplify boredom in boredom prone individuals: Boredom occurs when an activity is under- or overchallenging and/or low in meaning [ 13 ]. Further, being bored is aversive [ 14 ], and recent functional models of boredom propose that this aversive sensation serves as a signal to engage in a different activity [ 11 , 13 , 15 ]. Going back to COVID-19, current theorizing on boredom suggests that social distancing measures might cause boredom, while at the same time reducing behavioral options for alleviating boredom.…”

Implicit Theories about Athletic Ability Modulate the Effects of If-Then Planning on Performance in a Standardized Endurance Task

“…Therefore, low intensity exercise is likely to pose different self-regulatory challenges that threaten long-term exercise adherence: For many people, exercise might simply be boring. Recently, it has been proposed that boredom acts as a powerful motivator for seeking out more rewarding behavioral alternatives [74], and these might be at odds with one's goal of becoming fit and healthy. Thus, self-regulatory control is required to keep going despite being bored [74].…”

“…Recently, it has been proposed that boredom acts as a powerful motivator for seeking out more rewarding behavioral alternatives [74], and these might be at odds with one's goal of becoming fit and healthy. Thus, self-regulatory control is required to keep going despite being bored [74]. Therefore, future research should investigate how if-then plans can be tailored to the challenges of low intensity exercise, to help aspiring exercisers deal with these self-regulatory challenges.…”