The Study of Life Boredom

Abstract

This article extends the study of a phenomenological investigation (Bargdill, R. W., 2000) in which six participants wrote protocols and gave interviews describing the experience of being bored with their lives. This study found that the participants gradually became bored after they had compromised their life-projects for less desired projects. The participants felt emotionally ambivalent because they were thematically angry with others involved in their compromises while being pre-reflectively angry with themselves. The participants non-thematically adopted passive and avoidant stances toward their lives that allowed their boredom to spread to more aspects of their lives. The participants' boredom led them to identity issues because they no longer were actively working toward projects. They felt empty and apathetic because they felt every action led to boredom, and thus action was futile. Preliminary distinctions between the experience of life boredom and depression are considered.

Academic boredom among students in higher education: A mixed-methods exploration of characteristics, contributors and consequences

“…Perhaps because of this, the formal study of academic boredom in higher education remains a relatively underdeveloped field and one surprisingly neglected in the UK (Mann and Robinson, 2009;Authors, 2015). Its formal study has also been impeded, perhaps, by the apparent 'universality' of boredom as a more widespread phenomenon and the misattribution of boredom to sometimes unrelated feelings or reactions to events (Fisher, 1993;Darden and Marks, 1999;Bardgill, 2000;Martin et al, 2006;Goldberg et al, 2011).…”

The Moral Dimensions of Boredom: A Call for Research

“…Second, by existing in a situation in which no option appears to be attractive, high boredom prone individuals may ultimately lose a sense of direction in their life (Bargdill, 2000).…”

“…Consequently, by neglecting their future, bored individuals become disconnected from their potential and leave behind what they took to be essential, important, or defining about themselves (Bargdill, 2000;White, 1998).…”

“…Once one becomes disconnected from one's projects and future endeavors one may resist taking responsibilities for one's actions and for missed opportunities (Bargdill, 2000, p. 196 (Maltsberger, 2000, p.84) Lastly, a lack of care for one's projects is a license to stop caring about oneself and thus bored individuals may start acting in ways that not only fail to promote their well-being but that they are detrimental to them (e.g., Bargdill, 2000;Dahlen et al, 2005;Kass et al, 2010;Lee et al, 2007;LePera, 2011;Mann 2012;Paulson et al, 1990).…”

A meditation on boredom: re-appraising its value through introspective phenomenology

“…Similarly, state boredom has been linked to multiple adverse outcomes; for example, in the context of work, boredom has unsurprisingly been connected to greater dissatisfaction with most aspects of work, from work itself, to pay and co-workers (Kass et al, 2001), as well as poorer performance as rated by managers (Watt & Hargis, 2010). More broadly, adopting a phenomenological perspective, Bargdill (2000) explored more extensive forms of boredom, analysing the experiences of six people who felt 'bored with their lives ' (p.188). His analysis revealed that this type of enduring malaise arose in part from an assessment that endeavour and action were futile, leading to feelings of apathy and emptiness.…”