Two Tales of Rumination and Burnout: Examining the Effects of Boredom and Overload

Abstract

Although boredom poses serious consequences for employees and organizations, research has paid little attention to this phenomenon, especially when compared to other job experiences such as overload. Building upon the Effort‐Recovery Model, our study examines the impact of these two sub‐optimal experiences, characterized by under‐ and over‐stimulation, on burnout via three facets of rumination. Using a time lagged design with three measurement moments and a sample of 152 participants, we found partial support for our hypotheses. Boredom and overload led to emotional exhaustion and disengagement 2 weeks later, via an increase in affective rumination. Overload also increased emotional exhaustion via reduced detachment, yet boredom reduced emotional exhaustion by facilitating detachment. These findings stress the importance of addressing boredom as a pervasive, although often silent, workplace phenomenon.

Some revenge now or more revenge later? Applying an intertemporal framework to retaliatory aggression.

“…We deemed boredom to be a suitable control condition as it is a negatively valanced affective state that is linked with increased sensation-seeking and rumination (Bench & Lench, 2019; Sousa & Neves, 2020; van Tilburg & Igou, 2017). Further, experiences of boredom and anger last approximately the same amount of time (i.e., two hours; Verduyn & Lavrijsen, 2015).…”

Loneliness and Depression in College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: the Role of Boredom and Repetitive Negative Thinking

“…Boredom is associated with worry in college students (Kelly & Markos, 2001 ), and boredom and worry often co-occur in everyday life (Chin et al, 2017 ). In support of boredom influencing future RNT, one study found that workplace boredom predicted rumination one week later (Sousa & Neves, 2020 ). Indeed, researchers suggest that boredom precedes RNT when they theorize that bored individuals may use RNT to meet their need for stimulation (Kelly & Markos, 2001 ) or may be prone to engage in RNT as they repeatedly ponder a problem while feeling unable to take action (Mugon et al, 2018 ).…”

Chronic Exposure to High Altitude and Job Burnout Among Chinese Military Personnel at Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: The Mediating Effect of Fatigue and Moderating Effect of Deployment Duration

“…Monotonous landscape along the way during transportation duty on the plateau makes plateau drivers feel bored. Recent studies found that boredom was associated with burnout [34,35]. Different culture and customs, far away from home, and di culties in contacting with friends and family may cause plateau drivers lack of social support.…”