Boredom in Free Time: Relationships with Personality, Affect, and Motivation for Different Gender, Racial and Ethnic Student Groups

The propensity to experience boredom in free time was investigated by exploring relationships with the individual's demographic characteristics, personality, motivational orientation, and affective style assessed through group-administered questionnaires to 999 university students. The self-as-entertainment personality attribute consistently predicted the likelihood that students would be bored, and inverse relationships with extraversion and intrinsic motivational orientation were found for all student groups. Multiple regression analyses revealed that race, ethnicity, and gender were the only significant demographic predictors of the likelihood an individual would be bored in free time. Group similarities and differences in depicting students who were prone to experience boredom in free time are described.

[1]  G. Kyle,et al.  The Social Nature of Leisure Involvement , 2002 .

[2]  A. Pomerantz,et al.  Investigating the relationships between boredom proneness, paranoia, and self-consciousness , 2003 .

[3]  A. T. Church,et al.  Internal, External, and Self-Report Structure of Personality in a Non-Western Culture: An Investigation of Cross-Language and Cross-Cultural Generalizability , 1989 .

[4]  L. Barnett,et al.  Measuring the ABCs of Leisure Experience: Awareness, Boredom, Challenge, Distress , 2005 .

[5]  D. M. Samdahl,et al.  Self‐awareness and leisure experience , 1989 .

[6]  R. Larsen,et al.  Person x situation interactions: choice of situations and congruence response models. , 1984, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[7]  A. Stone,et al.  Event content in a daily survey is differentially associated with concurrent mood. , 1987, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[8]  L. Wegner,et al.  Reliability of the Leisure Boredom Scale for Use with High School Learners in Cape Town, South Africa , 2002 .

[9]  J. D. Watt,et al.  Boredom Proneness in African-American College Students: A Factor Analytic Perspective , 1997 .

[10]  W. Podilchak.  Establishing the fun in leisure , 1991 .

[11]  J. M. Digman,et al.  Factors In The Natural Language Of Personality: Re-Analysis, Comparison, And Interpretation Of Six Major Studies. , 1981, Multivariate behavioral research.

[12]  S. Vodanovich,et al.  Boredom proneness: its relationship to psychological- and physical-health symptoms. , 2000, Journal of clinical psychology.

[13]  Reed W. Larson,et al.  Leisure states and 'flow' experiences: testing perceived freedom and intrinsic motivation hypotheses. , 1988 .

[14]  S. Vodanovich,et al.  Boredom proneness and psychosocial development. , 1999, The Journal of psychology.

[15]  M. Floyd,et al.  Race, Ethnicity and Use of the National Park System , 1999 .

[16]  R. Farmer,et al.  Boredom proneness--the development and correlates of a new scale. , 1986, Journal of personality assessment.

[17]  Steven J. Kass,et al.  A Factor Analytic Study of the Boredom Proneness Scale , 1990 .

[18]  Deborah L. Bandalos,et al.  Development, reliability and validity of a scale to measure intrinsic motivation in leisure. , 1995 .

[19]  R. B. Hull,et al.  Experience Patterns: Capturing the Dynamic Nature of a Recreation Experience , 1992 .

[20]  P. Costa,et al.  The five-factor theory of personality. , 2008 .

[21]  M. G. Ragheb,et al.  Development and validation of a multidimensional scale measuring free time boredom , 2001 .

[22]  Janis Peacock Bellack,et al.  The disappearance of childhood , 1986 .

[23]  Renae D. Duncan,et al.  Roles of Boredom and Life Goals in Juvenile Delinquency1 , 2001 .

[24]  Ellen Weissinger,et al.  Perceptions of Boredom in Leisure: Conceptualization, Reliability and Validity of the Leisure Boredom Scale , 1990 .

[25]  M. Floyd.  Getting Beyond Marginality and Ethnicity: The Challenge for Race and Ethnic Studies in Leisure Research , 1998 .

[26]  Marsha D. Griffin,et al.  Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation , 2002 .

[27]  R. McCrae,et al.  The Five-Factor Model of Personality Across Cultures , 2002 .

[28]  B. Lashua,et al.  What is Leisure? The Perceptions of Recreation Practitioners and Others , 2004 .

[29]  P. Costa,et al.  Age, personality, and the spontaneous self-concept. , 1988, Journal of gerontology.

[30]  S. Shaw,et al.  Leisure Meanings in Adolescence , 1992 .

[31]  Edward A. Smith,et al.  Development of a Leisure Experience Battery for Adolescents: parsimony, stability, and validity. , 1992 .

[32]  S. Philipp.  Race and the Pursuit of Happiness , 2000 .

[33]  K. Henderson.  Both Gains and Gaps: Feminist Perspectives on Women's Leisure , 1996 .

[34]  J. M. Digman,et al.  Further specification of the five robust factors of personality. , 1986 .

[35]  S. Iso-Ahola,et al.  Leisure and Boredom , 1987 .

[36]  R. Mannell,et al.  A Social Psychology of Leisure , 2011 .

[37]  P. Costa,et al.  Updating Norman's "Adequate Taxonomy": intelligence and personality dimensions in natural language and in questionnaires. , 1985, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[38]  John D. Watt,et al.  Toward the development and validation of a measure of sexual boredom , 1996 .

[39]  M. Allison.  Breaking boundaries and barriers: Future directions in cross‐cultural research , 1988 .

[40]  S. Shaw,et al.  Boredom, stress and social control in the daily activities of adolescents. , 1996 .

[41]  J. Arnett.  Drunk driving, sensation seeking, and egocentrism among adolescents , 1990 .

[42]  L. Caldwell,et al.  Use of recreation majors as research subjects: Differences between majors and nonmajors on leisure‐related variables , 1992 .

[43]  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,et al.  Measuring intrinsic motivation in everyday life , 1983 .

[44]  E. Deci.  The Psychology of Self-Determination , 1980 .

[45]  K. Mobily.  Meanings of recreation and leisure among adolescents , 1989 .

[46]  D. Watson,et al.  Toward a consensual structure of mood. , 1985, Psychological bulletin.

[47]  R. B. Hull,et al.  Nature‐based Recreation, mood change, and stress restoration , 1995 .

[48]  D. Elkind.  The Hurried Child , 1981 .

[49]  Jüri Allik,et al.  A Five-Factor Theory Perspective , 2002 .

[50]  R. Larsen,et al.  Choice and avoidance of everyday situations and affect congruence: Two models of reciprocal interactionism. , 1986 .

[51]  T. M. Amabile,et al.  The Work Preference Inventory: assessing intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations. , 1994, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[52]  Y. Iwasaki,et al.  Situational and Personality Influences on Intrinsically Motivated Leisure Behavior: Interaction Effects and Cognitive Processes , 1999 .

[53]  Deborah L. Bandalos,et al.  Relation between intrinsic motivation and boredom in leisure time , 1992 .

[54]  S. Shaw.  Gender and Leisure: Inequality in the Distribution of Leisure Time , 1985 .

[55]  Frederick T. L. Leong,et al.  Boredom proneness : temperamental and cognitive components , 1993 .

[56]  Maria João da Costa Pereira,et al.  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. 2002. Fluir: A Psicologia da Experiência Óptima. Título original: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990). Nova Iorque: Harper Perennial. Tradução de Marta Amado. Lisboa: Relógio d’Água Editores , 2002 .

[57]  Ed Diener,et al.  Affect intensity and reactions to daily life events. , 1986 .

[58]  A. Phillips.  On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored: Psychoanalytic Essays on the Unexamined Life , 1993 .

[59]  J. Barbalet,et al.  Boredom and social meaning. , 1999, The British journal of sociology.

[60]  Cynthia D. Fisherl.  Boredom at Work: A Neglected Concept , 1993 .

[61]  M. Argyle.  The social psychology of leisure , 1996 .

[62]  R. Mannell.  Personality in leisure theory: the self-as-entertainment construct. , 1984 .

[63]  D. Watson,et al.  Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[64]  A. Blaszczynski,et al.  Boredom Proneness in Pathological Gambling , 1990, Psychological reports.

[65]  Steven J. Kass,et al.  State-Trait Boredom: Relationship to Absenteeism, Tenure, and Job Satisfaction , 2001 .

[66]  S. M. Ahmed,et al.  Psychometric Properties of the Boredom Proneness Scale , 1990 .

[67]  Stephen J. Vodanovich,et al.  The essence of boredom. , 1993 .

[68]  J. O'hanlon,et al.  Boredom: practical consequences and a theory. , 1981, Acta psychologica.

[69]  S. Iso-Ahola,et al.  Adolescent substance abuse and leisure boredom. , 1991 .

[70]  Jason W. Osborne,et al.  Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation Advantages of Hierarchical Linear Modeling Advantages of Hierarchical Linear Modeling , 2022 .

[71]  P. Costa,et al.  Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) , 1992 .

[72]  E. Deci,et al.  Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[73]  E. Deci,et al.  A motivational approach to self: integration in personality. , 1990, Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation.

[74]  Ellen Weissinger,et al.  INTRINSIC LEISURE MOTIVATION, PERSONALITY AND PHYSICAL HEALTH , 1984 .

[75]  J. Osborne.  Prediction in Multiple Regression , 2000 .

[76]  R. Wilkinson,et al.  The psychometric properties of the Boredom Proneness Scale: An examination of its validity. , 1997 .

[77]  M. Floyd,et al.  Gender, race, and subjective social class and their association with leisure preferences , 1995 .

[78]  P. Costa,et al.  Gender differences in personality traits across cultures: robust and surprising findings. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[79]  Richard M. Ganley,et al.  Emotion and eating in obesity: A review of the literature , 1989 .

[80]  P. Lewinsohn,et al.  Pleasant activities and depression. , 1973, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[81]  A Furnham,et al.  Extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism and recreational choice , 1991 .

[82]  Richard F. Farmer,et al.  Boredom in Young Adults , 1991 .

[83]  M. J. Blanchard,et al.  Boredom Proneness and the Need for Cognition , 1994 .

[84]  E. L. Jackson,et al.  Leisure studies: prospects for the Twenty-First Century. , 1999 .

[85]  P. Costa,et al.  Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. , 1987, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[86]  A. Tolor.  Boredom as related to alienation, assertiveness, internal‐external expectancy, and sleep patterns , 1989 .

[87]  D. M. Samdahl.  Issues in the measurement of leisure: A comparison of theoretical and connotative meanings , 1991 .

[88]  Linda L. Caldwell,et al.  “Why are You Bored?”: An Examination of Psychological and Social Control Causes of Boredom Among Adolescents , 1999 .

[89]  S. Vodanovich,et al.  Boredom Proneness: Its Relationship to Positive and Negative Affect , 1991, Psychological reports.

[90]  John D. Watt,et al.  The Relationship Between Time Structure and Boredom Proneness: An Investigation Within Two Cultures , 1999 .

[91]  H. Gibson.  Henderson, Karla; Bialeschki, M. Deborah; Shaw, Susan M.; and Freysinger, Valeria J. (1996). Both gains and gaps: Feminist perspectives on women's leisure , 1997 .

[92]  S. Vodanovich,et al.  Cognitive correlates of boredom proneness: the role of private self-consciousness and absorption. , 1998, The Journal of psychology.

[93]  J. Neulinger.  The psychology of leisure , 1981 .

[94]  O. John,et al.  Handbook of personality: Theory and research, 2nd ed. , 1999 .

[95]  James J. Gross,et al.  Facets of emotional Expressivity: Three self-report factors and their correlates , 1995 .

[96]  D. Watson,et al.  Mood and the mundane: relations between daily life events and self-reported mood. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[97]  M. Zuckerman.  Sensation Seeking : Beyond the Optimal Level of Arousal , 1979 .

[98]  A. B. Hill,et al.  Towards a model of boredom. , 1985, British journal of psychology.