Boredom–understanding the emotion and its impact on our lives: an African perspective
Résumé
Boredom is a universal experience overlooked in the scientific community despite most people having experienced it at some point in their lives.Despite being a common emotion, boredom has received little attention compared to other emotions such as happiness or anger (Westgate and Steidle, 2020).Boredom is often considered a trivial and inconsequential emotion, but recent studies have shown that it can have a significant impact on our wellbeing, productivity, and even our health.This paper aims to explore the concept of boredom, its impact on lives and its psychiatric aspect. Defining boredomBoredom is a state of mind characterized by a lack of interest, stimulation, or challenge.It is a subjective experience that can manifest in a variety of ways, including restlessness, apathy, and disinterest.Boredom can be caused by a lack of external stimulation or by internal factors such as a lack of motivation or a sense of purpose.It can arise from routine tasks, repetitive activities, or lack of novelty, which can result in a sense of time dragging or feeling stuck in a monotonous routine.Boredom can also arise from unmet expectations or a discrepancy between our desires and our current reality (Eastwood et al., 2012;Van Tilburg and Igou, 2017;Raffaelli et al., 2018). The impact of boredomBoredom can occur in different settings, including work, school, relationships, and leisure time, and is more prevalent among men, youths, the unmarried, and those of lower income (Chin et al., 2017;Weybright et al., 2020).While boredom is often seen as an unpleasant experience, it can have both negative and positive effects on individuals.On the one hand, boredom can be a source of creativity and innovation in that when bored, brains are more likely to wander and explore new ideas or perspectives.Boredom can encourage one to seek novel experiences, discover new interests, or challenge oneself to learn and grow.For instance during the COVID-19 pandemic, boredom as a result of lockdowns and isolations helped many explore new ideas and discover new interests.Some explored content creation as well as other interests such as painting, cooking, baking and knitting (Morse et al., 2021).Boredom can also prompt to reflect on values, goals, and aspirations, and motivate to make changes in lives.In this sense, boredom can be seen as an opportunity for self-awareness and self-improvement.Studies have shown that people who experience moderate levels of boredom are more likely to engage in creative thinking and problem-solving (Elpidorou, 2018;van Tilburg and Igou, 2019).
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