The boredom epidemic is on the rise.
A new study published by Communications Psychology by Katy Y.Y. Tam and Michael Inzlicht found that people are more bored than ever before — and digital media use is to blame.
Despite the endless amount of entertainment content that is accessible in today’s world, the data from the study titled “People Are Increasingly Bored in Our Digital Age” showed that there’s a higher rate of people reporting experiences of boredom.
Adolescents and college students in particular are feeling bored more frequently since 2009, the study said.
One research finding used in the study discovered a rising trend in boredom frequency from 2010 to 2017 with U.S. secondary school students. A similar increase in boredom was found from 2009 to 2020 through 64 studies involving Chinese college students.
Tam and Inzlicht said they believe digital media is actually heightening the feeling of boredom, a conclusion they came to from their findings.
First, they argued that digital media creates a great stimulation for people, which makes them uninterested in activities with lower stimulation like reading a book or attending a lecture.
Tam and Inzlicht cited other experience-sampling studies, which track individuals’ boredom levels in real time, to prove their argument. They said that most people are more bored after engaging with digital media.
Another piece of evidence is that digital media “fragments attention,” as the study put it, meaning people have a harder time focusing on one singular activity. Smartphones, for example, create so many distractions for people that disrupts their focus.
According to Tam and Inzlicht, studies have proven that frequent interruptions decrease satisfaction and people’s ability to engage in one task, which leads to their increased boredom.
Researchers allegedly found that having a Smartphone nearby causes less attention and enjoyment in face-to-face social interactions.
Digital multitasking, like scrolling on a phone while watching television, also disrupts users’ ability to pay attention and stay engaged in the moment.
The study also found that digital media “often delivers fragmented and disconnected information,” which makes people feel unfulfilled with their time spent online.
People who are frequently consuming quick, unrelated pieces of digital media are rarely satisfied by what they find. So, they end up feeling bored.
“In this digital age, learning to navigate mundane moments is more critical than ever,” the final sentence in the study read.
Tam and Inzlicht noted in their study that their research was primarily focused on adolescents and young adults — so the jury is still out on people from other age groups when it comes to the connection between digital media and boredom.
