Imaginary friends are a sign of a lively, creative mind. But they are leaving us

an article by Daisy Buchanan published in the Guardian

Research suggests that fewer children have invisible playmates. We must help them rediscover the art of being bored


Nursery workers believe children have fewer imaginary friends than they did five years ago, with 63% believing this to be a result of increased screen time.’ Photograph: Alamy

When I was three, I had a very good friend named Gemma. She was fearless where I was fretful, rebellious where I was conservative and dexterous where I was clumsy. She was also entirely imaginary. With Gemma’s help and support, I almost made it to the top shelf of the bookcase before my parents found me – and “Gemma said it was OK!” did not save me from a telling off. Gemma was also very fond of Discos crisps and Bourbon biscuits, and I became very good at smuggling them into my bedroom for her.

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Hazel’s comment:
I cannot remember. I wish I could but I have lost a lot of my childhood memories. Ah well, I have now learnt how to be bored and to be creative as an adult and I love it – just no imaginary friends.

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How 15-Minute Boredom Sessions Can Help You Manage Stress and Emotions

a post by Derek Beres for the Big Think blog



If you want to know the state of a nation, we generally look no further than online. A proper portrait, that does not yield. Look, instead, at the line in front of you, waiting for a cappuccino or to pay for groceries. Look into the cars surrounding you at a red light. Look around anywhere in the public space, except at your phone. Then you’ll get a sense of where our heads are at.

Our heads are down, perpetually angled at the screen, whenever a moment of potential boredom arises. Waiting for a meal? Barista taking too long? Or even the proper amount of time – those 30 seconds are crushingly dull. Caffeine is a secondary stimulation, a little jolt to turn your attention so that it can immediately be pulled into the innumerable waves of inattention on Instagram.

Where did boredom go? What happens when we stop allowing ourselves the habit of staring into space, letting our minds wander? Instead of a deluge of constant information, can we, as Michael Harris writes in The End of Absence, “engineer scarcity in our communications, in our interactions, and in the things we consume?”

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Boredom at work: towards a dynamic spillover model of need satisfaction, work motivation, and work-related boredom

an article by Madelon L. M. van Hooff (Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) and Edwin A. J. van Hooft (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) published in European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology Volume 26 Issue 1 (2017)

Abstract

Boredom occurs regularly at work and can have negative consequences. This study aimed to increase insight in the antecedents and processes underlying the development of work-related boredom by

1. examining whether work-related need satisfaction and the quality-of-work motivation mediate the associations between the work characteristics defined in the Job Characteristics Model and work-related boredom,
2. investigating if this motivational process operates both on an “enduring,” between-person level and a daily within-person level, and
3. examining if and how daily experiences of work-related boredom spill over to the next day.

Data among employees were collected in a cross-sectional study (N = 115) and a 5-day daily diary study (N = 90).

Study 1 results showed that need satisfaction and quality-of-work motivation mediated the association between work characteristics and work-related boredom.

This motivational process was also found on a day-to-day basis in Study 2. This study further revealed that work-related boredom spills over to the next day through its associations with increased negative work attitudes and decreased intrinsic motivation.

These findings provide insight in the process by which momentary experiences of boredom at work may develop into a more enduring experience of work-related boredom.

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Work-related boredom and depressed mood from a daily perspective: the moderating roles of work centrality and need satisfaction

an article by Madelon L. M. van Hooff (Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) and Edwin A. J. van Hooft (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) published in Work & Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations Volume 30 Issue 3 (2016)

Abstract

This study aimed to advance insight into inter- and intra-personal processes that may affect the associations between work-related boredom and employee well-being.

We employed a daily perspective to examine

1. the relations between work-related boredom and depressed mood at the end of the workday and at the end of the evening after work;
2. whether these relations were stronger for employees with high work centrality (the importance of work to the individual); and
3. whether the indirect association between work-related boredom and depressed mood in the evening (via depressed mood at the end of the workday) was smaller on days during which employees’ basic psychological needs were satisfied after work.

Data were collected by means of a 5-day diary study among 106 employees in various occupations in The Netherlands. The results showed that work-related boredom was positively related to both depressed mood at the end of the workday and depressed mood in the evening, but only for employees with high work centrality.

Furthermore, daily need satisfaction after work mitigated the indirect relation between work-related boredom and depressed mood in the evening. Based on these findings it can be concluded that work centrality and need satisfaction should be taken into account in order to understand the association between work-related boredom and employee well-being.

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