Boredom can be good for you
Far from dulling the mind a new study claims that boredom might actually stimulate creativity.
Dr Sandi Mann, from the University of Central Lancashire, tested the creativity of two groups of participants by asking them to find creative uses for two polystyrene cups. Before the experiment, one group was asked to complete a monotonous writing task of copying phone numbers directly from a telephone.
Dr Mann found the group who completed the humdrum task first found far more uses for the cups than the control group.
"Boredom is a fascinating emotion because it is seen as so negative yet it is such a motivating force,” she said, adding, “I am also acutely aware that being bored is not the bad thing everyone makes it out to be. It is good to be bored sometimes! I think up so many ideas when I am commuting to and from work – this would be dead time, but thanks to the boredom it induces, come up with all sorts of projects.”
Dr Mann’s research backs up the research of Dr Wijnand van Tilburg, a psychologist from University of Southampton, who also believes boredom to be beneficial.
“Generally speaking, boredom feels unpleasant, and it involves feeling restless and unchallenged at the same time," he said.
“In our research we have found that boredom fulfils an important function: boredom makes people keen to engage in activities that they find more meaningful than those at hand.
“Essentially, the unpleasant sensation of boredom “reminds” people that there are more important matters attend to than those at hand.”
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