Boredom Is One of the Pandemic’s Worst Enemies
Published in
Dec 8, 2020
An underestimated risk factor during the pandemic is boredom, Kendra Pierre-Louis reports for Elemental. New research suggests that people who are rarely bored have an easier time sticking to social distancing behaviors that can help stop the spread of the virus. People more prone to boredom may be more likely to partake in riskier behaviors. When people are bored, they’re willing to do things that may not make sense, research suggests. One 2014 study asked people to sit in an empty room with only one tool of distraction: the ability to self-administer an unpleasant electrical shock. One participant willingly shocked himself 190 times. Read more about the effects of boredom below.
