Boredom in the Middle School Years: Blaming Schools versus Blaming Students

Abstract

This article uses time-sampling data to evaluate fifth to ninth graders' experiences of boredom both as a state, related to specific school and nonschool activities, and as a trait, related to individual dispositions that students bring to school. Data come from a study in which 392 youths carried pagers and reported on their activities and emotions at random times over a week when signaled. Results show that, while boredom is reported frequently during schoolwork, it is also prevalent outside school and the same persons report boredom across these contexts. High rates of boredom were correlated with high ability and, when ability is controlled, with oppositional behavior, but not with onset of adolescence. These findings suggest that individual dispositions are an important contributor to boredom. Nonetheless, variations in rates of boredom across school task situations suggest that schools might be structured to reduce, though not eliminate, student boredom.