Boredom as an Antagonist of Creativity

Correlates and Characteristics of Boredom Proneness and Boredom1

“…The opportunity for thought and reflection was the most frequently mentioned, followed by the opportunity for relaxation. The increased reflectiveness made possible by a state of boredom is congruent with Geller's (1994) suggestion that boredom can be interpreted as a source of information, and the use of boredom to increase creativity is consistent with Schubert's (1977Schubert's ( , 1978 conclusion that "boredom may lead to increased creativity in situations which require people to give serial responses" (Schubert, 1977, p. 239). The identification of relaxation as a possible positive consequence of boredom is interesting in light of Sawin and Scerbo's (1995) finding that identifying a vigilance task as a relaxation task rather than a detection task produced subjective evaluations of the task as lighter on stress and overall workload.…”

“…Interestingly, in spite of the implicit assumption held by many that the state of boredom is one that almost everyone experiences at some time (Ahmed, 1990;Bernstein, 1975;Bryant & Zillman, 1984;Damrad-Frye & Laird, 1989;Farmer & Sundberg, 1986;Fisher, 1993;Leong & Schneller, 1993;Sawin & Scerbo, 1995;Schubert, 1977), 10% of the respondents volunteered that they were never bored. The fact that these individuals scored lower on mood monitoring than did the other respondents could suggest that a focus on one's emotional state may lead to boredom or, alternatively, that people who never introspect are unable to recognize when they are bored.…”

“…In contrast to the extensive literature dealing with its negative effects, few if any positive consequences of boredom have been identified, although a few theorists have hypothesized that boredom might occasionally lead to positive outcomes such as increasing creativity (Schubert, 1977(Schubert, , 1978 and inspiring a search for change and variety (Vodanovich & Kass, 1990b). Boyle, Richards, and Baglioni (1993) have suggested that being able to endure boredom may improve a child's self-image, and Geller (1994) has implied that therapists can use their boredom with a patient as an "interpretive resource" (p. 8) for understanding the patient and as a way of camouflaging unacceptable motives and feelings.…”

Boring Thoughts and Bored Minds: The MAC Model of Boredom and Cognitive Engagement

“…Boredom is an immensely powerful motivator of people's actions, for both better and worse. It may inspire the most trivial and meaningful of acts, from doodling (Andrade, 2010;Maclay, Guttman, & Mayer-Gross, 1938) and bursts of creativity (Baird, Smallwood, Mrazek, Kam, Franklin, & Schooler, 2012;Harris, 2000;Schubert, 1977Schubert, , 1978 to self-destructive drug use (Lee, Neighbors, & Woods, 2007), compulsive gambling (Mercer & Eastwood, 2010), and even self-harm (Barbalet, 1999;Chapman & Dixon-Gordon, 2007).…”

Boring Thoughts and Bored Minds: The MAC Model of Boredom and Cognitive Engagement

“…Boredom is an immensely powerful motivator of people's actions, for both better and worse. It may inspire the most trivial and meaningful of acts, from doodling (Andrade, 2010;Maclay, Guttman, & Mayer-Gross, 1938) and bursts of creativity (Baird, Smallwood, Mrazek, Kam, Franklin, & Schooler, 2012;Harris, 2000;Schubert, 1977Schubert, , 1978 to self-destructive drug use (Lee, Neighbors, & Woods, 2007), compulsive gambling (Mercer & Eastwood, 2010), and even self-harm (Barbalet, 1999;Chapman & Dixon-Gordon, 2007).…”