The Double-Edged Sword of Boredom

“The general overview shows us the two enemies of human happiness: pain and boredom.” This is how the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer lamented more than 150 years ago, and boredom still has a bad reputation. In a world constantly pulsing with activity and distraction, it is considered a mere waste of time, an annoying emotion we want to dispel as quickly as possible. Who likes the feeling when time stretches like chewing gum and the clock’s hands seem to stand still? One would rather quickly reach for the smartphone. 

Yet research shows: Boredom is not as one-dimensional as the emotion often feels. The feeling arises when people feel either underchallenged or overwhelmed, says psychologist Thomas Götz of the University of Vienna. “Or when what you’re doing seems to make little sense.” In schools, for example, the curriculum is taught at a certain level. Yet there are always students who feel overwhelmed or underchallenged. “Those who are overwhelmed eventually tune out and stop understanding anything.” 

Many people find boredom so oppressive that they’ll do just about anything to get rid of it. We don’t even shy away from efforts we’d normally avoid. That’s what researchers led by psychologist Raymond Wu from the University of British Columbia discovered. In their study, participants were spoiled for choice: for example, they could tackle addition problems of varying difficulty or stare at a blank screen. It turned out that the subjects preferred more difficult tasks to doing nothing. In another study, subjects even preferred to give themselves electric shocks rather than remain idle. 

To understand such phenomena, researchers are also examining a mental state that is the opposite of boredom – the flow. In this state, we become completely absorbed in an activity; it comes naturally to us, and we derive joy from it. “The experience of flow is relatively defined, specifically in relation to the experience of boredom and being overwhelmed,” explains psychologist Georg Grön, head of the Neuropsychology and Functional Imaging Section at Ulm University Hospital. “If an activity is too easy, we quickly become bored; if, on the other hand, an activity is too difficult, we feel overwhelmed.” In between, there is a window where the activity is neither one nor the other. “If our activity falls within this window or zone, then the associated state is experienced as pleasant. We are in flow.” 

Georg Grön, together with colleagues, discovered: “The flow experience most likely arises primarily because at least two specific brain regions are downregulated in their activity.” For us to feel “in the flow,” the medial Prefrontal cortex and the Amygdala must hold back. The medial prefrontal Cortex comes into play when we reflect on ourselves. Lower activity in this brain region during the flow state therefore likely means that fewer self-reflective thoughts play a role in the moment of action. “These self-reflections often have a negative connotation even in healthy people,” says Georg Grön. If such negatively-colored self-reflection occurs less frequently during flow, a positive feeling arises, so to speak. Put very simply, the flow experience provides a brief respite from the “self.”

Added to this is reduced activation of the amygdala, whose activity is linked to emotional arousal. “The combined reduced activation of both regions during the flow state results in one being less preoccupied with oneself and the emotional burden of completing the task being less prominent.” As a result, one is fully focused on the activity and “feels” as though one is completing it effortlessly. 

With boredom, however, the opposite is true. One is, for example, underchallenged by an activity, or the activity is simply meaningless. In the brain, the medial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala are active during boredom. As a result, according to Georg Grön, the activity is accompanied by self-reflective thoughts such as “Why do I even have to do this task?” or “Am I focused enough?” Added to this is an emotional arousal that is usually negative in tone. Studies by other researchers also show that during boredom, the so-called resting-state network – which includes the medial prefrontal cortex – is more active. This network increases its activity whenever we are not occupied by external stimuli but are instead lost in our thoughts. 

There’s no question: Boredom not only feels extremely unpleasant but can also have unpleasant consequences. As a result, some people try to fill the inner void in the truest sense of the word: with food. In a study, a certain tendency toward boredom was linked to emotional eating. In this context, people turn to food as a result of negative Emotions. What may have been a sensible behavior in times of scarcity, however, leads today to obesity and health problems.

Out of boredom, however, we may also tend to harm other living beings. This is shown by a study in which researchers showed one half of the participants a film about a waterfall. For 20 minutes, only the waterfall was visible – enough to make you yawn. The other half was shown a significantly more entertaining film about the Alps.

During the film, participants could grind up maggots in a coffee grinder if they wanted to. (In reality, the maggots in the coffee grinder were not actually harmed.) Result: Most participants did not grind up any maggots. Of the 13 people who did so anyway, 12 belonged to the group that watched the boring video. Shredding the maggots also gave the participants a sense of satisfaction. Apparently, boredom triggered sadistic behavior in them. 

But that’s only one side of boredom. As annoying as the feeling is, it also has positive aspects. “Boredom serves an important function,” says Thomas Götz, the Viennese psychologist. It signals to us that our current activity or situation is unimportant or meaningless to us. “Because boredom feels unpleasant, it sends us the impulse to do something else.” It prompts us to consider whether we feel overwhelmed, underchallenged, or whether we consider the current situation to be meaningless. “Then you can try to adapt the activity to your own skill level, give the current activity more meaning, or start a different activity.”

The impulse to do something new can lead to both negative and positive outcomes, according to Götz. He points, for example, to criminals who frequently report that they committed the crime out of sheer boredom. But boredom can also be creative under certain circumstances, especially when one is bored due to a lack of challenge, says Götz. This was likely the case for Albert Einstein when he worked as a patent examiner at the Bern Patent Office. While he performed monotonous work, organized files, and pored over dry paperwork, his mind was free to wander, leading him to some of his greatest scientific discoveries. A good reason, then, to put away your smartphone and let your own ideas flow. It doesn’t have to be the theory of relativity, after all.

Further reading

• Wu, R. et al.: Do humans prefer cognitive effort over doing nothing? J Exp Psychol Gen 2023 Apr;152(4):1069-1079. ( zum Abstract )
• Sackett AM, Meyvis T, Nelson LD, Converse BA, Sackett AL. You're having fun when time flies: the hedonic consequences of subjective time progression.  Psychol Sci. 2010;21(1):111-117. ( zum Abstract )
• Pfattheicher, S. et al: On the relation of boredom and sadistic aggression.  J Pers Soc Psychol  2021 Sep;121(3):573-600. ( zum Abstract )