Types of students’ boredom : An experience-sampling approach

Abstract

The present study evaluated the dimensions underlying the construct of academic boredom to address the ongoing debate concerning the levels of arousal and valence assumed to characterize this emotion (see Goetz, Frenzel, & Pekrun, 2007; Pekrun et al., 2010; Watson & Tellegen, 1985). Different types of students’ boredom were investigated as proposed in a four-category conceptual model by Goetz and Frenzel (2006) and consistent with early theoretical assertions of multiple “boredoms” as opposed to a singular construct (Fenichel, 1951; Phillips, 1993). In this model, four types of boredom are differentiated based on increasing levels on the dimensions of valence and arousal: indifferent (low positive/low arousal), calibrating (low negative/low arousal), searching (moderate negative/moderate arousal), and reactant boredom (high negative/high arousal). The study hypotheses proposed that individuals’ real-life boredom experiences may be differentiated with respect to valence (positive to negative) and arousal (Hypothesis 1), that boredom types should differ in relation to other affective states (Hypothesis 2), and that differential prevalence should be found for boredom experiences in achievement vs. non-achievement situations (Hypothesis 3). Hypothesis 1 concerned the internal validity of the four-part boredom typology, whereas Hypotheses 2 and 3 addressed the external validity of the boredom types in relation to conceptually relevant constructs and across situation types.In two studies (Study 1: university students, N = 63, mean age 24.08 years, 66% female; Study 2: high school students, grade 11, N = 80, mean age 17.05 years, 58% female), real-life data was obtained via the experience-sampling method (Personal Digital Assistants, PDAs; Csikszentmihalyi & Larson 1987). PDA responses were assessed over a two-week period (time randomizing procedure, signal-contingent sampling; see Hektner, Schmidt, & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007). The self-report variables assessed were as follows: a) Current activity (achievement vs. non-achievement situation), b) intensity of boredom and other affective states (well-being, satisfaction, enjoyment, anger, anxiety), c) valence and arousal associated with boredom experiences. We analyzed experiences of boredom (N = 1,103/1,432 in Studies 1/2) with respect to valence and arousal using multilevel latent profile analyses (B. O. Muthén & Muthén, 2000).Supporting the internal validity of the proposed boredom types, our results demonstrated the assumed four boredom types and an unexpected fifth type referred to as “apathetic boredom” (high negative valence and low arousal). The findings further supported the external validity of the five boredom types in showing differential relations between the boredom types and other affective states (e.g., greater well-being corresponding with indifferent boredom) as well as frequency of situational occurrence (e.g., infrequent reactant boredom in non-achievement setting). Our results thus shed light on an ongoing debate concerning the phenomenology, antecedents, and effects of academic boredom experiences. Further they highlight the utility of exploring within-construct variability in emotions along the dimensions of valence and arousal. Methodological and educational implications as well as directions for future research are discussed.