Boredom has been studied now for nearly a century with differing opinions and suggestions as to how to overcome it being the result. In 1926, after a study of factory workers, the British Medical Journal published that boredom was a form of mental fatigue caused by repetition and lack of interest in monotonous tasks. What was noteworthy of this study was that it was noticed that some workers suffered more than others from boredom in their work.

The first laboratory testing of boredom occurred in the late 1930’s and was then deduced to be a form of fatigue which was dissipated through the use of stimulants. In 1951 a book was published claiming that boredom was actually due to the repression of an individual’s natural drives and desires. After this date the research into boredom fell from grace and it wasn’t until 1986 that a psychologist developed the first full psychometric scale called the ‘Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS)’ as a method to measure boredom as an individual trait.

The BPS test people to see hoe likely their nature is to become bored across a range of different situations and the results seem to show some people are more prone to boredom than others. The conclusion was that they might need more excitement in their lives or possibly suffer from an existential ennui due to a feeling of lack of purpose in life.