Abstract
Nearly everyone experiences episodes of boredom at work from time to time, regardless of the nature of their job. Previous research on industrial monotony is unable to explain boredom on any but the simplest of tasks. A broader view of the causes of boredom, including attributes of the task, environment, person, and person-environment fit, is proposed. Individual choices of response to feelings of boredom are also considered, and a number of research propositions are suggested.
|
AHMED, S. M. S. Psychometric properties of the boredom proneness scale. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1990, 71, 963-966. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
ALFREDSSON L. , KARASEK, R. , & THEORELL, T. Myocardial infarction risk and psychosocial work environment: An analysis of the male Swedish work force. Social Science Medicine, 1982, 16, 463-467. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
BERNSTEIN, H. E. Boredom and the ready-made life. Social Research, 1975, 42, 512-537. Google Scholar | ISI | |
|
BOND, C. F. , & TITUS, L. J. Social facilitation: A meta-analysis of 241 studies. Psychological Bulletin, 1983, 94, 265-292. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
BREHM, S. S. , & BREHM, J. W. Psychological Reactance: A theory of freedom and control. New York: Academic Press, 1981. Google Scholar | |
|
BRYANT, J. , & ZILLMAN, D. Using television to alleviate boredom and stress: Selective exposure as a function of induced excitational states. Journal of Broadcasting, 1984, 28, 1-20. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
BUCK, R. Human motivation and emotion. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1988. Google Scholar | |
|
CAPLAN, R. D. , COBB, S. , FRENCH, J. R. P., Jr. , HARRISON, R. V. , & PINNEAU, S. R., Jr. Job demands and worker health. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. 1975. Google Scholar | |
|
COX, T. Repetitive work. In C. L. Cooper and R. Payne (eds.), Current concerns in occupational stress. Chichester, Great Britain: John Wiley & Sons, 1980. Google Scholar | |
|
CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, M. Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1975. Google Scholar | |
|
CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, M. Attention and the holistic approach to behavior. In J. K. Pope and J. L. Singer (Eds.), The stream of consciousness. New York: Plenum Press, 1978. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
DAMRAD-FRYE, R. , & LAIRD, J. D. The experience of boredom: The role of self-perception of attention. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1989, 59, 315-320. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
DAVIES, D. R. , & PARASURAMAN, R. The psychology of vigilance. London: Academic Press, 1982. Google Scholar | |
|
DAVIES, D. R. , SHACKLETON, V. J. , & PARASURAMAN, R. Monotony and boredom. In R. Hockey (Ed.), Stress and fatigue in human performance. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1983, pp. 1-32. Google Scholar | |
|
DECHENNE, T. K. , & MOODY, A. J. Boredom: Theory and therapy. Psychotherapy- Patient, Spring/Summer, 3, 1987, 17-29. Google Scholar | |
|
DECI, E. L. , & Ryan, R. M. Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum, 1985. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
DRORY, A. Individual differences in boredom proneness and task effectiveness at work. Personnel Psychology, 1982, 35, 141-151. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
EYSENCK, H. J. The biological basis of personality. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 1967. Google Scholar | |
|
FISHER, C. D. Boredom: Construct, causes, and consequences. Technical report ONR-9, Texas A&M University, 1987. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
FARMER, R. , & SUNDBERG, N. D. Boredom proneness: The development and correlates of a new scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1986, 50, 4-17. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
FENICHEL, O. On the psychology of boredom. In R. Rapaport (Ed.), Organization and pathology of thought. New York: Columbia University Press, 1951, pp. 349-361. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
FRANKENHAUSER, M. , & GARDELL, B. Underload and overload in working life: A multidisciplinary approach. Journal of Human Stress, 1976, 2, 35-46. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
GABRIEL, M. A. Boredom: Exploration of a developmental perspective. Clinical Social Work Journal, 1988, 16, 156-164. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
GARDNER, D. G. Task complexity effects on non-taskrelated movements: A test of activation theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1990, 45, 209-231. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
GARDNER, D. G. , & CUMMINGS, L. L. Activation theory and job design: Review and reconceptualization. Research in Organizational Behavior, 1988, 10, 81-122. Google Scholar | ISI | |
|
GEIWITZ, J. P. Structure of boredom. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1966, 3, 592-600. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
GINSBURG, S. G. Diagnosing and treating managerial malaise. Personnel 1984, 61, 34-41. Google Scholar | |
|
GRIFFIN, R. W. Objective and social sources of information on task redesign: A field experiment. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1983, 28, 184-200. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
GROSE, V. L. Coping with boredom in the cockpit before it's too late. Professional Safety, 1989, 34:(7), 24-26. Google Scholar | |
|
GUEST, D. , WILLIAMS, R. , & DEWE, P. Job Design and the Psychology of Boredom. Presented at the 19th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Munich, West Germany, 1978. Google Scholar | |
|
HACKMAN, J. R. , & OLDHAM, G. R. Work redesign. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1980. Google Scholar | |
|
HAMILTON, J. Development of interest and enjoyment in adolescence. Part II. Boredom and psychopathology. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1983, 12, 363-372. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
HARRIS, M. B. Effects of altruism on mood. Journal of Social Psychology, 1977, 102, 197-208. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
HILL, A. B. Extraversion and variety-seeking in a monotonous task. British Journal of Psychology, 1975, 66, 9-13. (a) Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
HILL, A. B. Work variety and individual differences in occupational boredom. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60, 128-131. (b) Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
HILL, A. B. , & PERKINS, R. E. Towards a model of boredom. British Journal of Psychology, 1985 76, 235-240. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
KIECHELL, W., III Chairman of the bored. Fortune, March 5, 1984, 175-176. Google Scholar | |
|
KISHIDA, K. A study of subsidiary behavior in monotonous work. International Journal of Production Research, 1977, 15, 609-621. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
KLINGER, E. Meaning and void: Inner experience and the incentives in people's lives. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1977. Google Scholar | |
|
KLINGER, E. Modes of normal conscious flow. In K. S. Pope and J. L. Singer (Eds.), The stream of consciousness. New York: Plenum, 1978, pp. 225-258. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
KLINGER, E. On the self-management of mood, affect, and attention. In P. Karoly and F. H. Kanfer (Eds.), Self-managenment and behavior change. New York: Pergamon, 1982, pp. 129-164. Google Scholar | |
|
KLINGER, E. Current concerns and disengagement from incentives. In F. Halisch and J. Kuhl (Eds.), Motivation, intention, and volition. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1987, pp. 337-347. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
KLINGER, E. , BARTA, S. G. , & MAXEINER, M. E. Motivational correlates of thought content frequency and commitment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1980 39, 1222-1237. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
KULIK, C. T. , OLDHAM, G. R. , & HACKMAN, J. R. Work design as an approach to person-environment fit. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1987, 31, 278-296. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
LAZARUS, R. S. Thoughts on the relations between emotion and cognition. American Psychologist, 1982, 37, 1019-1024. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
LAZARUS, R. S. , KANNER, A. D. , & FOLKMAN, S. Emotions: A cognitive-phenomenological analysis. In R. Plutchick and H. Kellerman (Eds.), Emotion: theory, research, and experience. New York: Academic Press, 1980, pp. 189-217. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
LEARY, M. R. , ROGERS, P. A. , CANFIELD, R. W. , & COE, C. Boredom in interpersonal encounters: Antecedents and social implications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1986, 51, 968-975. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
LEPPER, M. R. , & GREEN D. (Eds.). The hidden costs of reward. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlaum, 1978. Google Scholar | |
|
LINVILLE, P. W. Affective consequences of complexity regarding the self and others. In M. S. Clark and S. T. Fiske (Eds.), Affect and cognition: The 17th annual Carnegie symposium on cognition, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1982. Google Scholar | |
|
LOCKE, E. A. , & BRYAN, J. F. Performance goals as determinants of level of performance and boredom. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1967, 51, 120-130. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
LOCKE, E. A. , & LATHAM, G. P. A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. Google Scholar | |
|
LONDON, H. , & MONELL, L. Cognitive manipulations of boredom. In H. London and R. Nisbett (Eds.), Thought and feeling. Chicago: Aldine, 1974, pp. 44-59. Google Scholar | |
|
LONDON, H. , SCHUBERT, D. S. P. , & WASHBURN, D. Increase of autonomic arousal by boredom. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1972, 80, 29-36. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
MAYER, J. D. , & GASCHKE, Y. N. The experience and meta-experience of mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1988, 55, 102-111. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
McBAIN, W. N. Noise, the "arousal hypothesis," and monotonous work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1961, 45, 309-317. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
MERRENS, M. R. , & GARRETT, J. B. The Protestant work ethic scale as a predictor of repetitive work performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60, 125-127. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
MORRIS, W. N. , & REILLY, N. P. Toward the self-regulation of mood: theory and research. Motivation and Emotion, 1987, 11, 215-249. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
MOSSHOLDER, K. W. Effects of externally mediated goal setting on intrinsic motivation: A laboratory experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1980, 65, 202-210. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
O'HANLON, J. F. Boredom: Practical consequences and a theory. Acta Psychologica, 1981, 49, 53-82. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
ORCUTT, J. D. Contrasting effects of two kinds of boredom on alcohol use. Journal of Drug Issues, 1984, 14, 161-173. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
ORGAN, D. W. Organizational citizenship behavior. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1988. Google Scholar | |
|
ORTH-GOMER, K. , HAMSTEN, A. , PERSKI, A. , THEORELL, T. , & De FAIRE, U. Type A Behavior, Education and Psychosocial Work Characteristics in Relation to Ischemic Heart Disease: A Case Control Study of Myocardial Infarction Patients Below 45. Manuscript, National Institute of Psychosocial Factors and Health, Stockholm (Cited in Theorell, T. Stress at work and risk of myocardial infarction. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 1986, 62, 791-795). Google Scholar | |
|
PERKINS, R. E. , & HILL, A. B. Cognitive and affective aspects of boredom. British Journal of Psychology, 1985, 76, 221-234. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
RUNCIE, J. F. By days I make the cars. Harvard Business Review, May-June 1980, 106-115. Google Scholar | |
|
RUSSELL, J. A. A circumplex model of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1980, 39, 1161-1178. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
RYAN, R. M. Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1982, 43, 450-461. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
SAITO, H. , KISHIDA, K. , ENDO, Y. , & SAITO, M. Studies on bottle inspection task, 1. Comparisons of different work control systems. Journal of Science of Labor, 1972, 48, 475-532. Google Scholar | |
|
SALES, S. M. Some effects of role overload and role underload. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1970, 5, 592-608. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
SAMILOVA, A. J. Morbidity with temporary loss of working capacity of female workers engaged in monotonous work. Sovietskia Zdravoak Hranenie, 1971, 30, 41-46. Google Scholar | |
|
SCHALLER, M. , & CIALDINI, R. B. The economics of empathic helping: Support for a mood management motive. Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, 1988, 24, 163-181. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
SCOTT, W. E., Jr. Activation theory and task design. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1966, 1, 3-30. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
SHAW, J. B. , & WEEKLEY, J. A. The effects of objective work-load variations on psychological strain and post-work-load performance. Journal of Management, 1985, 11, 87-98. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
SIMS, H. P. , SZILAGYI, A. D. , & KELLER, R. T. The measurement of job characteristics. Academy of Management Journal, 1976, 19, 195-212. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
SMITH C. A. , & ELLSWORTH, P. C. Patterns of cognitive appraisal in emotion. Journal of Personality Social Psychology, 1985, 48, 813-838. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
SMITH, C. A. , ORGAN, D. W. , & NEAR, J. P. Organizational citizenship behavior: Its nature and antecedents. Jouiral of Applied Psychology, 1983, 68, 653-663. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
SMITH, P. C. The prediction of individual differences in susceptibility to industrial monotony. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1955, 39, 322-329. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
SMITH, R. P. Boredom: A review. Human Factors, 1981, 23, 329-340. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
STAGNER, R. Boredom on the assembly line: Age and personality variables. Industrial Gerontology, 1975, 2, 23-44. Google Scholar | ISI | |
|
STAW, B. M. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press, 1976. Google Scholar | |
|
THACKRAY, R. I. The stress of boredom and monotony: A consideration of the evidence. Psychosomatic Medicine, 1981, 43, 165-176. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
THOMAS, J. , & GRIFFIN, R. The social information processing model of task design: A review of the literature. Academy of Management Review, 1983, 8, 672-682. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
THOMPSON, L. A. Measuring susceptibility to monotony. Personnel Journal, 1929, 8, 172-197. Google Scholar | |
|
TRIST, E. L. , & BAMFORTH, K. W. Some social and psychological consequences of the long-wall method of coal-getting. Human Relations, 1951, 4, 3-38. Google Scholar | ISI | |
|
TURNER, A. N. , & LAWRENCE, P. R. Industrial jobs and the worker. Boston: Harvard University Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, 1965. Google Scholar | |
|
WASSON, A. S. Susceptibility to boredom and deviant behavior at school. Psychological Reports, 1981, 48, 901-902. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
WEISS, H. M. , & SHAW, J. B. Social influence on judgments about tasks. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1979, 24, 126-140. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
WHITE, R. W. Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence. Psychological Review,1959, 66, 279-333. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| WILLIAMS, L. J., PODSAKOFF, P. M., & HUBER, V. Determinants of organizational citizenship behaviors: A structural equation analysis with cross-validation. University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN., 1986. Unpublished manuscript. Google Scholar | |
|
WOOD, R. E. Task complexity: Defining the construct. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1986, 37, 60-82. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
ZALESNY, M. D. , & FORD, K. D. Extending the social information processing perspective: New links to attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1990, 47, 205-246. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
ZUCKERMAN, M. Sensation seeking. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1979. Google Scholar | |
|
ZUCKERMAN, M. , KOLIN, E. A. , PRICE, L. , & ZOOB, I. Development of a sensation-seeking scale. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1969, 28, 477-482. Google Scholar | Crossref |
