Understanding the Relation Between Boredom and Academic Performance in Postsecondary Students

Prior research has proposed that boredom and academic performance are reciprocally causal of one another. The present study sought to better understand the relationship between boredom and academic performance by, for the first time: distinguishing between boredom proneness, state boredom, and judgments of task boringness; conducting experiments in the laboratory where extraneous variables could be better controlled; and using experimental manipulation for causal conclusions. Study 1 examined the naturally occurring relationship between state boredom and performance on a word list recall task in the laboratory. Study 2 tested whether manipulating state boredom resulted in changes in word list recall, and Study 3 tested whether manipulating perceived word list recall resulted in changes in state boredom. State boredom and performance had a reciprocal relationship only for participants who memorized "interesting" word lists and only after repeated trials (Study 1); trait boredom predicted performance but state boredom did not (Study 2); and manipulating perceptions of performance had no effect on state boredom but did affect participants' judgments of how boring the learning task was (Study 3). Thus, students seem to be able to weather changes in performance or boredom in the moment without one affecting the other. It is when the situation persists, or state boredom crystallizes into the form of a judgment (course-related boredom) or way of being (trait boredom), that problems emerge. Guidelines for educators are offered. Future research work is proposed, most pressingly work to replicate the current findings with more complex learning tasks. Educational Impact and Implications Statement Our three studies suggest that postsecondary students can tolerate changes in academic performance or boredom in the moment without one affecting the other. It is when students start to feel that the task or course is boring, or report a general tendency to be bored, that academic performance suffers. In addition to clarifying which type of boredom is linked to poor academic performance, our study suggests practical guidelines for educators. Following from our findings, we recommend that educators monitor their classroom for signs of state boredom, and attempt to intervene at this point when performance consequences have not begun to occur. We also recommend that educators encourage their students to monitor their feelings of boredom in the moment and to remind themselves of