Lay Beliefs about Boredom: A Mixed-Methods Investigation

Abstract

The present study developed and validated a 15-item self-report measure for boredom beliefs, the Boredom Beliefs Scale (BBS). We generated a pool of items on people’s lay beliefs about boredom from a series of qualitative interviews, and then administered it via an online questionnaire in Hong Kong Chinese (N = 231) and American (N = 498) samples. We identified 3 lay boredom beliefs—the extent to which people recognize the functions of boredom (boredom functionality), affectively dislike this emotion (boredom dislike) and normalize its experience (boredom normalcy). The 3-factor BBS was found to be measurement invariant across a two-week time interval and across the two cultural groups. Three subscales showed good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and meaningful relationships with emotion beliefs, emotion acceptance, and boredom proneness. Implications of the scale in clinical and educational contexts were discussed.

Boredom belief moderates the mental health impact of boredom among young people: Correlational and multi‐wave longitudinal evidence gathered during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…This aligns with earlier findings on a positive association found between boredom dislike and boredom proneness (Tam, Van Tilburg, & Chan, 2021a) and those on an inverse association between "liking" withdrawal emotion and the intensity of emotional experience (Harmon-Jones et al, 2011). Boredom normalcy was not significantly associated with boredom frequency and intensity at the between-person level, which is consistent with the results on the non-significant association between boredom normalcy and boredom proneness (Tam, Van Tilburg, & Chan, 2021a). It was, however, positively associated with boredom frequency and intensity at the within-person level, which indicates that people are more inclined to believe that boredom is a normal experience at times they feel bored more frequently and intensely.…”

“…Indeed, preliminary data (Tam, Van Tilburg, & Chan, 2021a ) shows that people vary in their boredom beliefs. Three key lay beliefs about boredom were proposed— boredom functionality , boredom dislike , and boredom normalcy .…”

“…There is a clear theoretical distinction between emotion belief and emotion regulation (e.g., Ford & Gross, 2018 , 2019 ). Tam, Van Tilburg, and Chan ( 2021a ) suggest that people who dislike boredom have a higher tendency to experience it. Yet, without a means to assess them, there has been relatively scarce research on boredom beliefs in young people.…”

“…First, we investigated the association between boredom beliefs and boredom experience, as well as the role of boredom beliefs in attenuating the link between boredom experience and mental well‐being. Second, given that the Boredom Beliefs Scale (Tam, Van Tilburg, & Chan, 2021a ) has not been administered in adolescent sample, we examined its psychometrics properties to ensure that it is a valid and reliable measure for hypothesis testing.…”

“…There is emerging research suggesting that the deleterious effect of negative emotions on health is more pronounced among people who do not see value in these emotions (Ford & Gross, 2018 ; Luong et al, 2016 ). Given that people vary in their lay beliefs about boredom (Tam, Van Tilburg, & Chan, 2021a ), are young people more susceptible to the mental health impact of boredom if they hold this common emotion in low regard? The current research addressed this question.…”