Self-regulatory, cognitive and personality contributions to an ontology of boredom proneness.

Poster Session C - Sunday, April 14, 2024, 5:00 – 7:00 pm EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Jamie Nettinga¹ (jinettin@uwaterloo.ca), Anvita Gopal¹, James Danckert¹; ¹University of Waterloo

Boredom proneness shows consistently high correlations with depression despite feeling phenomenologically distinct. In this exploratory study, we explored self-regulatory, cognitive and personality variables that might disambiguate trait boredom proneness from both depression and anxiety. We first ran regressions on a large survey dataset (n~2,300) predicting boredom proneness, depression and anxiety using different sets of variables. By plotting the standardized beta weights on polar plots for each regression, the resulting ‘fingerprint’ for each domain can be compared. Notable differences emerged for each construct. For example, low levels of self-control were more predictive of boredom proneness than depression and anxiety. Whereas increased neuroticism was most predictive of anxiety followed by depression and least predictive of boredom proneness. As for cognitive variables, low levels of flow were most predictive of anxiety followed by boredom proneness and then depression. This research provides insights into what distinguishes these phenomenologically distinct but highly related cognitive-affective experiences.

Topic Area: OTHER