 It is agreed today that boredom is not a consequence of lack of things to do but is due to an inability to connect with a specific activity. Psychologists agree that there are three types of boredom which all have some element of inability to engage attention. The first is when we are prevented from engaging in something, the second is when we are forced to engage in an unwanted activity and the third is when we are for no known reason unable to engage in an activity.
The development of the BPS has found a correlation both theoretically and statistically that links a person’s susceptibility to boredom with their proneness to attention lapses and depression. It is often the case that boredom is trivialized and people suffering from this emotion are often told to ‘snap out of it’ or to ‘find something to do’ however with these psychological findings we can link boredom to many more psychological conditions that are considered far more detrimental. These conditions range through psychological, physical, educational and social problems. Although boredom is trivialized, studies have shown that a longing for thrills to drive away boredom may lead people to indulge in destructive, sensation-seeking activities, including smoking, vandalism, gambling and drugs. A 2005 study of 92 Scottish teenagers, for example, found that boredom was among the top reasons stated for taking drugs. Boredom is also linked to problems with attention. After all, it is hard to be interested in something when you cannot concentrate on it. This has been proven in studies of attention deficit disorder as subjects that tested high on the BPS suffered from some degree of this illness.
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