Same same but different : What is boredom actually?

Abstract

Boredom poses a fascinating riddle: Although it is a ubiquitous experience, lay people and researchers often struggle with expressing what boredom actually is, and how it should be differentiated from related or opposite psychological phenomena. In this chapter, we address this riddle in two sections. First, we define boredom and its function. We propose that boredom is a state of inadequate function utilization that occurs when reward prediction error has been minimized. Boredom’s suggested evolutionary function is to drive exploration. Boredom is therefore understood to have a critical role for the effective regulation of behavior. Second, we differentiate boredom from a host of emotions and states it has frequently been likened to (or even been equated with), such as depression, amotivation, apathy, or boredom being the polar opposite of flow.