Habitual Boredom and Depression: Some Qualitative Differences

Bargdill, Richard W.

doi:10.1177/0022167816637948

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Researchers have examined boredom from diverse perspectives, focusing on its functions (e.g., Bench & Lench, 2013;Elpidorou, 2018a;Van Tilburg & Igou, 2011, 2019, its underlying attentional mechanisms (e.g., Eastwood et al, 2012;Fisher, 1998;Leary et al, 1986), its preceding appraisals (Pekrun, 2006), or its relation with self-control (Wolff & Martarelli, 2020). These different accounts each have their strengths and unique contributions.…”

Section: Existing Theoretical Models On Boredommentioning

confidence: 99%

Attention Drifting In and Out: The Boredom Feedback Model

Tam

Tilburg

Chan

et al. 2021

Pers Soc Psychol Rev

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We synthesize established and emerging research to propose a feedback process model that explicates key antecedents, experiences, and consequences of the emotion boredom. The proposed Boredom Feedback Model posits that the dynamic process of boredom resembles a feedback loop that centers on attention shifts instigated by inadequate attentional engagement. Inadequate attentional engagement is a discrepancy between desired and actual levels of attentional engagement and is a product of external and internal influences, reflected in objective resources and cognitive appraisals. The model sheds light on several essential yet unresolved puzzles in the literature, including how people learn to cope with boredom, how to understand the relation between self-control and boredom, how the roles of attention and meaning in boredom can be integrated, why boredom is associated with both high- and low-arousal negative emotions, and what contributes to chronic boredom. The model offers testable hypotheses for future research.

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Section: Existing Theoretical Models On Boredommentioning

confidence: 99%

Attention Drifting In and Out: The Boredom Feedback Model

Tam

Tilburg

Chan

et al. 2021

Pers Soc Psychol Rev

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“…Taken together, these ndings suggest that boredom and boredom proneness may represent a precursor to depression [29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…The question remains as to why the lack of meaning in some contexts lead to boredom, and in others depression. Boredom and depression are well-established correlates [10][11][12], which some have interpreted to re ect the possibility that chronic boredom may function as a potential precursor or risk factor for depression, for example when boredom is left to fester unresolved [29]. By understanding the differences between the two, it becomes possible to identify what marks the point at which boredom turns, over time, into depression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disentangling boredom from depression using the phenomenology and content of involuntary autobiographical memories

Yeung,

Danckert,

Tilburg

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Recurrent involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs) are memories retrieved unintentionally and repetitively. We examined whether the phenomenology and content of IAMs could differentiate boredom and depression, both of which are characterized by affective dysregulation and spontaneous thought. Participants (n = 2,484) described their most frequent IAM and rated its phenomenological properties (e.g., valence). Structural topic modeling, a method of unsupervised machine learning, identified cohesive content within the described memories. Boredom proneness was positively correlated with depressive symptoms, and both were correlated with more negative recurrent IAMs. Boredom proneness predicted less vivid recurrent IAMs, whereas depressive symptoms predicted more vivid, negative, and emotionally intense ones. Memory content also diverged; topics such as relationship conflicts were positively predicted by depressive symptoms, but negatively predicted by boredom proneness. Phenomenology and content in recurrent IAMs can effectively disambiguate boredom proneness from depression in a large sample of undergraduate students from a racially diverse university.

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“…Indeed, some theorists aimed to pinpoint internal psychological aspects that differentiate boredom tendencies from pure depression ( 49 , 50 ). These aspects might include external ambivalence in which bored persons typically blame others for their failures rather than directing anger towards themselves as is common in depression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bored to death: Artificial Intelligence research reveals the role of boredom in suicide behavior

Lissak,

Ophir,

Tikochinski

et al. 2024

Front. Psychiatry

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BackgroundRecent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) contributed significantly to suicide assessment, however, our theoretical understanding of this complex behavior is still limited.ObjectiveThis study aimed to harness AI methodologies to uncover hidden risk factors that trigger or aggravate suicide behaviors.MethodsThe primary dataset included 228,052 Facebook postings by 1,006 users who completed the gold-standard Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale. This dataset was analyzed using a bottom-up research pipeline without a-priory hypotheses and its findings were validated using a top-down analysis of a new dataset. This secondary dataset included responses by 1,062 participants to the same suicide scale as well as to well-validated scales measuring depression and boredom.ResultsAn almost fully automated, AI-guided research pipeline resulted in four Facebook topics that predicted the risk of suicide, of which the strongest predictor was boredom. A comprehensive literature review using APA PsycInfo revealed that boredom is rarely perceived as a unique risk factor of suicide. A complementing top-down path analysis of the secondary dataset uncovered an indirect relationship between boredom and suicide, which was mediated by depression. An equivalent mediated relationship was observed in the primary Facebook dataset as well. However, here, a direct relationship between boredom and suicide risk was also observed.ConclusionIntegrating AI methods allowed the discovery of an under-researched risk factor of suicide. The study signals boredom as a maladaptive ‘ingredient’ that might trigger suicide behaviors, regardless of depression. Further studies are recommended to direct clinicians’ attention to this burdening, and sometimes existential experience.

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Habitual Boredom and Depression: Some Qualitative Differences

Cited by 6 publications

References 29 publications

Attention Drifting In and Out: The Boredom Feedback Model

Attention Drifting In and Out: The Boredom Feedback Model

Disentangling boredom from depression using the phenomenology and content of involuntary autobiographical memories

Bored to death: Artificial Intelligence research reveals the role of boredom in suicide behavior

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