1st Edition
The Routledge International Handbook of Boredom
This comprehensive text is a unique handbook dedicated to research on boredom. The book brings together leading contributors from across three continents and numerous fields to provide an interdisciplinary exploration of boredom, its theoretical underpinnings, its experiential properties, and the applied contexts in which it occurs.
Boredom is often viewed as a mental state with little utility, though recent research suggests that it can be a powerful motivator of human behavior that shapes our actions in many ways. The book examines boredom from a range of perspectives and is comprised of three parts. Part I delves into the theoretical approaches to boredom, presenting methods for its measurement, explaining when and why boredom occurs, and scrutinizing the impact it has on our behavior. Part II focuses on the psychological and neural properties of boredom and its associations with a multitude of mental and interpersonal processes, such as self-control, mind-wandering, flow, and aggression. Part III presents boredom in practical contexts like school and work, and sheds light on its role for health-related behaviors, psychosocial well-being, and aesthetic experiences. The book concludes by summarizing the state of boredom research, identifying promising areas for future research, and providing directions for how research on boredom can be advanced.
As the authoritative book on boredom, this handbook is an essential resource for students and researchers of psychology, sociology, education, sport science, and computer science.
01. Boredom is not Boring
Maik Bieleke, Wanja Wolff, & Corinna Martarelli
Part 1: Foundations
02. Same Same but Different – What is Boredom Actually?
Wanja Wolff, Vanessa C. Radtke, & Corinna S. Martarelli
03. Methodological Approaches to Boredom and its Measurement
Corinna S. Martarelli & Nathanael S. Jost
04. The Nature and Value of Boredom
Andreas Elpidorou
05. The Function of Boredom: Driving us to Explore the New and Different
Noah T. Reed, Nazim Asani, Van Dang, & Heather C. Lench
06. Boredom: A Control-Value Theory Approach
Reinhard Pekrun & Thomas Goetz
07. Boredom and the Quest for Meaning
Eric R. Igou, Muireann K. O’Dea, Katy Tam, & Wijnand A. P. van Tilburg
08. A Brief History of the Psychology of Boredom
Josefa Ros Velasco
Part 2: Correlates
09. On the Virtues of Fragile Self-Control: Boredom as a Catalyst for Adaptive Behavior Regulation
Maik Bieleke, Wanja Wolff, & Alex Bertrams
10. Mind-wandering as an Exploratory Response to Boredom
Corinna S. Martarelli & Ambroise Baillifard
11. Flow as an Experience Beyond Boredom
David Weibel & Bartholomäus Wissmath
12. Boredom on the Brain: What can Neuroimaging tell us about Boredom?
Allison Drody, Ofir Yakobi, & James Danckert
13. Boredom Proneness
Wijnand A. P. van Tilburg, Christian S. Chan, Andrew B. Moynihan, & Eric R. Igou
14. On the Relation of Boredom and Aggression
Christine Tonne Artak & Stefan Pfattheicher
Part 3: Contexts
15. Academic Boredom
Thomas Goetz, Lisa Stempfer, Reinhard Pekrun, Wijnand A. P. van Tilburg, & Anastasiya A. Lipnevich
16. Boredom at Work: A Systematic Review of the Causes and Consequences of Work-Related Boredom
Edwin A. J. van Hooft & Madelon L. M. van Hooff
17. Adolescent boredom in Leisure: Risks and Opportunities for Healthy Development
Elizabeth Weybright & Linda L. Caldwell
18. Boredom, Food Consumption and Weight
Asli Erdemli & Géraldine Coppin
19. Boredom in Sports and Exercise
Wanja Wolff, Christian Weich, & Ursula Fischer
20. Boredom and the Psychosocial Well-being of Persons Experiencing Homelessness
Carrie Anne Marshall
21. Aesthetic boredom
Aenne Brielmann & Peter Dayan
22. Boredom Intervention: Recommendations, Experiences, and Preliminary Evidence
Virginia Tze, Patti Parker, & Lia Daniels
23. Overview of Current Directions in Boredom Research
Maik Bieleke, Wanja Wolff, Corinna S. Martarelli, Christine Tonne Artak, Nazim Asani, Ambroise Baillifard, Alex Bertrams, Aenne Brielmann, Linda L. Caldwell, Christian S. Chan, Géraldine Coppin, James Danckert, Van Dang, Lia Daniels, Peter Dayan, Allison Drody, Andreas Elpidorou, Asli Erdemli, Ursula Fischer, Thomas Goetz, Eric R. Igou, Nathanael S. Jost, Heather C. Lench, Anastasiya A. Lipnevich, Carrie Anne Marshall, Andrew B. Moynihan, Muireann K. O’Dea, Patti Parker, Reinhard Pekrun, Stefan Pfattheicher, Vanessa C. Radtke, Noah T. Reed, Josefa Ros Velasco, Lisa Stempfer, Katy Tam, Virginia Tze, Madelon L. M. van Hooff, Edwin A. J. van Hooft, Wijnand A. P. van Tilburg, David Weibel, Christian Weich, Elizabeth Weybright, Bartholomäus Wissmath, Ofir Yakobi
Biography
Maik Bieleke received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Konstanz (Germany), where he currently works as a senior researcher. He focuses on motivation, effort, and performance, with an emphasis on the interplay of self-control and boredom as guiding signals of human behavior.
Dr. Wanja Wolff studied psychology at the University of Konstanz, earned his doctoral degree in psychology from the University of Potsdam, and has then worked as a senior researcher at the University of Konstanz. Since 2024, he is a Professor for Sport Psychology at the University of Hamburg where he heads the Dynamics of Human Performance Regulation Laboratory (DHPRL). The DHPRL uses psychological, neuroscientific, and physiological methods to investigate how people regulate performance in different contexts.
Corinna S. Martarelli received her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Bern (Switzerland). She is currently Associate Professor for Methods and Statistics at the Faculty of Psychology of UniDistance Suisse. She carries out research in the field of cognitive psychology in the areas of memory and learning, with a focus on boredom and mind-wandering.
