Boredom in the Workplace

Dr Sandi Mann, C PsycholUniversity of Central Lancashire

A Conference Presentation for the Association of Business Psychologists Annual

ConferenceMay 7th 2009

Does Boredom at Work Matter?

• “Boredom has been linked to high turnover, a lack of innovation and competitive disadvantage”

Mark Anderson, director of Exec-U-Net and author of survey into workplace boredom, cited in Steinauer JM (1999) Bored Stiff, Incentive 173 (11)

“ Be it at a desk at the Treasury Department, a spot on the factory floor, or a drab blue cubicle, boredom is a condition that can be more stressful and damaging than overwork”

Washington post article, ‘Boredom Numbs the Work World’ August 10th 2005)

This Presentation

Boredom – what is it? Boredom at work – what is

known about it. Consequences of being bored at

work Causes of workplace boredom Study: Teacher Boredom Boredom in the current economic

climate

What is Boredom?

• Contrary to popular wisdom, boredom is not the result of having nothing to do.

• Rather, boredom stems from a situation where none of the possible things that a person can realistically do appeal to the person in question.

Definitions of Boredom

• A ‘state in which the level of stimulation is perceived as unsatisfactorily low’ (Hebb 1996)

• A distinct emotional state: ‘Boredom is an unpleasant, transient affective state in which the individual feels a pervasive lack of interest in and difficulty concentrating on the current activity….[such that] it takes conscious effort to maintain or return attention to that activity’ (Fisher 1993, p.396)

The Purpose of Boredom

• Communication to others of our interests, values and beliefs.

• Adaptive mechanism against societal noise or information overload (Klapp 1986).

• A ‘shield against self-confrontation’ (Hoover 1986)

• A means to avoid discomfort or new knowledge (Dehlinger 1975).

• Communicates lack of ‘presence’ – that you don’t want to be here.

• Functions as an excuse or justification (Scott & Lyman 1968) for eg non-involvement or respite

• Communicates a desire to be stimulated by others.

• Evolutionary value• Stimulates the ‘production of fantasies,

awakening creativeness’ (Brisset 1993)

Boredom as an Energiser

• Motivating force/catalyst for action: “Boredom… is an alerting phenomenon that all is not well and something must be done.” (Gaylin 1979 p.129).

• “I’m afraid of boredom because I get into all this emptiness” Sir Bob Geldof, October 12th, 2003, The Observer.

Boredom at Work• Nearly 45% of hiring experts in a 1998 survey said firms

lost top workers because they were bored with their jobs (Steinauer 1999)

• A third of Britons claim to be bored at work for most of the day (DDI survey reported in the Times March 7th 2004).

• In the financial services, half were often or always bored at work (ibid)

• In a survey of 800 000 employees those with ‘too little work’ gave satisfaction ratings of 49/100 compared with those with ‘too much work’ who gave ratings of 57 (Sirota Consulting in Washington Post, August 2005)

• Boredom is the second most commonly suppressed emotion at work (Mann 1999)

• 55% of all U.S. employees were found to be ‘not engaged’ in their work in a recent survey reported in the Washington Post (August 10th, 2005).

• 24% of office employees surveyed by Office Angels claimed that boredom caused them to rethink their career and look for alternative jobs (reported in The Guardian, 20th January 2003)

• 28% of graduates claimed to be bored with their job in a survey by the Teacher Training Agency (2004).

• Half of graduates working in a range of professions are regularly bored at work and those in administration, manufacturing, sales and marketing are the most likely to be wishing their working life away (1)

Training & Development Agency for Schools' Boredom Index

Position Profession                   Average boredom                                       rating out of 10

1      Administrative/secretarial   10 2      Manufacturing               8.1

3      Sales                         7.8 4      Marketing/ advertising        7.7 5      IT/ telecommunications        7.5 6      Science research/development  7.3 7      Media                         7.1

8      Law                           6.9 8      Engineering                   6.9 10    Banking/Finance               6.6 11    Human Resources               6.6 12    Accountancy                   6.3 13    Hospitality/Travel            5.3 14    Healthcare                    5.1 15    Teaching                      4.0

Why were they bored?

• Lack of job challenge (61%)• Not using skills/knowledge (60%)• Routine (50%)

• Half of those employees who are bored have considered changing their profession in the last year.

Boredom at work: a neglected concept

• Most previous research concerned with boredom proneness rather than task or job content (eg Drory 1982, Rupp & Vodanovich 1997).

• What little research there is focuses on task repetitiveness (eg Cox 1970)

• Thus, workplace boredom has been studied in the context of a limited range of tasks such as mechanical assembly, vigilance tasks and continuous manual control

Professions studied include:

• Heavy truck drivers (Drory 1982)• Manual workers (Branton 1970)• Government clerks (Dyer-Smith &

Wesson 1997)• Assembly autoworkers (Grubb 1975)• Clerical employees (Lee 1986)• Long distance truck drivers (McBain

1970)• Repetitive press-operators (Hill 1975)

• “The experience of work boredom is not limited to blue collar workers or office workers performing repetitive or routine work” (Fisher 1993, p.395)

Consequences of Workplace Boredom

• "It blocks creativity, which can undermine any company, which can keep it from staying abreast of the marketplace, competition. When you have that boredom, that can produce a kind of pervasive cloud. It can build like a critical mass that hurts the company's performance and market position.”

Douglas LaBier, a business psychologist who runs the Center for Adult Development in Washington, in Washington Post, August 2005

Consequences: Research findings

• Poor performance at work (Branton 1970, Drory 1982, O’Hanlon 1981, Smith 1981)

• Correlations with anger (Rupp and Vodanovich)

• Accidents (Branton 1970, Drory 1982)High • Absenteeism (Brisset& Snow 1993, Saito et al

1972)• More errors (Cox 1980, Drory 1982, O’Hanlon

1981)• Stress, increased risk taking/thrill seeking (Hamilton 1983, O’Hanlon 1981, Orcutt 1984, Wasson 1981,

Zuckerman 1979)

Consequences continued…

• Sleepiness (Grose 1989)• Stress-related health problems

eg heart attacks (eg Alfredsson, Karasek & Theorell 1982)

• Job dissatisfaction (Caplan et al 1975).

• Property damage (Drory 1982)

Causes of Workplace Boredom

• Task effects• Work environment effects• Person effects• Labelling effects

Task Effects

• Tasks which are high in skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback are thought to produce less boredom (Hackman & Oldham 1980)

• 55% of boredom incidents due to quantitative underload (Fisher 1987)

Work environment Effects

• People (the social psychology of boredom): other people can offset boredom due to direct/indirect stimulation. (unless they are boring people!)

• Reactance• Overjustification

Person Effects

• Capacity (intelligence)• Personality (eg extroversion,

boredom proneness)• Mental Health

Appraisal of Boredom

• What symptom leads to identification of the emotion?

• Environmental cues?• Defence against personal

responsibility?

Responses to Boredom

1. Refocus attention on task 2. Seek additional stimulation

Current Study: Aims

1. To investigate the experience of boredom outside of those professions traditionally examined in order to gain a better understanding of the experience of workplace boredom.

2. To begin to develop a model that will map the causes, contributors and moderators of workplace boredom whilst identifying short- and long-term consequences for the individual and their organisation.

3. To accumulate data that will allow a quantitative measure to be designed for the second stage of this on-going research that will test and refine the model developed.

• Design: A (mainly) qualitative questionnaire was designed and administered.

• Method: 86 teachers in schools and colleges were recruited to take part in the study.

• Materials: The questionnaire was designed by using current knowledge about workplace boredom from previous research to develop a causes-experience-consequences framework that is hoped, will eventually lead to the development of the model.

Findings: Causes of Boredom (task)

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Findings: Causes of Boredom (environment)

• “The work is repetitive” 29%• “There is too much paperwork”

50%• “Another person bores me” 15%• The work is not demanding

enough” 16%• “The work is too demanding” 9%

Causes of boredom (person factors)

• “Unambitous people may not mind boring jobs”

• “Tiredness makes me more prone to boredom”

• “Being proactive makes me less prone”• “Being intelligent makes me more prone –

some tasks are not challenging enough”• “I have a short attention span”• “I am less prone because I have a good

imagination”• “I need variety”• “I like to be active so I am more prone to

boredom”• “I like to see results quickly”• “I need constant stimulation”

Coping Strategies (Responses to Boredom)

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Doodle

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Plan

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What does boredom feel like?

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30

time s

low

waste

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frustra

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tired

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What are the consequences of being bored?

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concentra

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seek

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stress

absent

alcohol

Today’s workplace:

• Increasing automation• Technology as interface• Mounting paperwork• Constant meetings• Growth of the service industry• Health and safety legislation• New working practices (eg call centres)• 24/7 working culture• Rise in need for ‘self-actualisation’ Mann, The Boredom Boom, The Psychologist February

2007