Boredom Avoidance

Abstract

``I'm bored!'' It's that dreaded feeling of …nothingness. Our basic physical needs have been met so we don't need anything from the environment, but…something please happen. Long stretches of boredom are endemic in some important jobs often associated with excitement --- like policing, fire-fighting, and space travel (Aschwanden, 2015). A bored person is disconnected from the situation (Weir, 2013), is not valuing the surroundings (Iso-Ahola & Weissinger, 1987), and can't figure out a way to perceive the setting as opportunities to participate (Hamilton, Haier, & Buchsbaum, 1984). And now boredom has become a psychological topic worthy to measure (Hunter, Dyer, Cribbie, & Eastwood, 2015).