Academic boredom

In this chapter, we discuss academic boredom—that is, boredom that manifests itself in academic settings. We start by defining academic boredom and discussing how it can be assessed. We show that academic boredom is an area that has been growing rapidly over the past ten years. Empirical evidence of the high prevalence of academic boredom among students and teachers is presented. We also provide an overview of theoretical considerations and empirical findings on the antecedents (e.g., over- or underchallenge, lack of value) and consequences of academic boredom (e.g., negative achievement outcomes), as well as relevant conceptual frameworks and findings on how to most effectively cope with academic boredom (e.g., cognitive approaches, such as changing the perception of the situation). Implications for educators in terms of preventing and reducing academic boredom are then presented, such as increasing students’ perceived value of academic tasks and content by emphasizing the relevance of classroom activities to students’ daily lives. Finally, future directions in research on academic boredom are outlined, such as research on test boredom or the development of intervention programs to reduce boredom in students and teachers.

© 2024 selection and editorial matter Maik Bieleke, Wanja Wolff, & Corinna S. Martarelli; individual chapters, the contributors