Boredom Proneness Scale

What is the Boredom Proneness Scale?

Boredom is an unpleasant mental state that arises from repetitive situations (Eastwood et al., 2012) and a lack of cognitive engagement (Danckert & Elpidorou,2023), significantly influencing human perception and behavior across different cultures (Sundberg et al., 1991). Chronic boredom is linked with negative mood and depressive symptoms in adults (Lee & Zelman, 2019) and children (Panda et al., 2021), along with being recognized as a behavioral driver for negative outcomes, such as overeating (Abramson & Stinson, 1977) and alcohol consumption (Windle & Windle, 2018).  However, when managed effectively, boredom can also have positive effects by encouraging the search for new information and fostering exploration of one’s environment (Bench & Lench, 2013).

Boredom can be categorized into state boredom, described as temporally limited experience of boredom, and trait boredom, considered as a rather stable individual proneness to be bored (Zerr, et al., 2024). The Boredom Proneness Scale can be used to apply trait boredom under healthy and pathological conditions (Zerr, et al., 2024).

The Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS) is a 28-item self-report measure of boredom proneness among an individual. Each item on the BPS assesses the following aspects of boredom (Farmer & Sundberg, 1986):

• Difficulty concentrating
• Feeling like time is passing slowly
• Feeling like life is boring
• Lack of interest in activities
• Feeling fidgety and restless
• Feeling like there is nothing to do

The items delve into topics such as waiting patiently, challenging things, same things, monotonous and tiresome situations, and someone's home movies. It also considers how an individual views themselves and their behavior; examples include whether they are seldom excited, a creative or imaginative person, whether they have free time due to their so many interests, and situations of both meaningless things and challenging things.

How to use our Boredom Proneness Scale template

Our free Boredom Proneness Scale template is easy to use and printable. Follow these steps to get started:

Step 1: Download the template

Access the Boredom Proneness Scale template by clicking "Use template," allowing you to edit the resource via the Carepatron app. For a PDF copy, choose "Download."

Step 2: Familiarize yourself with the template

The template is designed to guide you through the Boredom Proneness Scale, which includes space for essential patient information. The template follows the standard Boredom Proneness Scale composed of 28 items, each relating to one of the six factors.

Step 3: Ask the patient to complete

Give the template to the patient to complete, ensuring that they fill out their details. Before completion, emphasize that these are subjective questions. Explain that it is crucial to provide honest answers to attain an accurate result. Be sure to guide the individual through the template, helping them with questions if necessary while ensuring not to suggest any answers.

Step 4: Score their answers

Calculate the individual's score by summing the raw scores of each item to reach the total score.

Scoring

Scoring the BPS is a simple process. The total score is calculated by summing the 28-item scores. The scoring process involves a 7-point format, ranging from 1, "highly disagree," to 7, "highly agree." The total score can range between 28 to 168, with a higher score indicating a greater tendency to experience boredom.

Next steps after using the Boredom Proneness Scale

After administering the Boredom Proneness Scale, you can take several important steps to further understand and address an individual's boredom levels

Review results

Identify trends and patterns within the findings to get a more comprehensive assessment. You can do this in mental health and non-clinical environments to gain insight into aspects of an individual’s boredom levels.

Discuss results with the patient

Open a sensitive and nonjudgmental conversation with your patient to discuss the results. Aim to get a well-rounded understanding of the patient, considering the broader context of their life and the social factors that may be influencing their boredom.

Integrate results into clinical formulations

Use the results to aid in clinical formulations, helping you guide targeted interventions specific to the individual’s needs. The results can also be used alongside other psychological assessment tools to enhance your clinical approach and monitor progress.

Tailor interventions based on findings

You can develop personalized strategies to address boredom and its underlying causes based on the results. This may involve behavioral, cognitive, or environmental interventions aimed at improving engagement and emotional well-being.

References

Abramson, E. E., & Stinson, S. G. (1977). Boredom and eating in obese and non-obese individuals. Addictive behaviors, 2(4), 181-185.

Bench, S. W., & Lench, H. C. (2013). On the function of boredom. Behavioral sciences, 3(3), 459-472.

Danckert, J., & Elpidorou, A. (2023). In search of boredom: Beyond a functional account. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 27(5), 494-507.

Eastwood, J. D., Frischen, A., Fenske, M. J., & Smilek, D. (2012). The Unengaged Mind: Defining Boredom in Terms of Attention. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(5), 482-495. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612456044

Farmer, R., & Sundberg, N. D. (1986). Boredom proneness: The development and correlates of a new scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 50(1), 4–17. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5001_2

Lee, F. K., & Zelman, D. C. (2019). Boredom proneness as a predictor of depression, anxiety, and stress: The moderating effects of dispositional mindfulness. Personality and Individual Differences, 146, 68-75.

Panda, P. K., Gupta, J., Chowdhury, S. R., Kumar, R., Meena, A. K., Madaan, P., ... & Gulati, S. (2021). Psychological and behavioral impact of lockdown and quarantine measures for COVID-19 pandemic on children, adolescents and caregivers: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, 67(1), fmaa122.

Sundberg, N. D., Latkin, C. A., Farmer, R. F., & Saoud, J. (1991). Boredom in young adults: Gender and cultural comparisons. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 22(2), 209-223.

Windle, R. C., & Windle, M. (2018). Adolescent precursors of young adult drinking motives. Addictive behaviors, 82, 151-157.

Zerr, K., Seiler, J. P. H., Rumpel, S., & Tüscher, O. (2024). Validation of a German version of the Boredom Proneness Scale and the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 2905.