A study published in the journal Emotion provides evidence that boredom motivates people to seek new experiences, even ones that are unpleasant. Across three experiments, researchers found that people who were bored were more likely to choose novel experiences, including those that elicited negative emotions like disgust. These findings suggest that boredom is not simply a nuisance but may serve a functional role by prompting people to break out of repetitive or emotionally flat situations.

For much of psychology’s history, boredom was dismissed as trivial. It was treated as a passing state that had little influence on behavior or decision-making. But researchers have started to rethink this position in recent years. Boredom occurs frequently in everyday life and is associated with a range of behaviors, including impulsivity, risk-taking, and disengagement in academic and work settings.

The research, led by Shane Bench of Utah State University Eastern and Heather Lench of Texas A&M University, builds on this growing interest by exploring what boredom actually motivates people to do. According to a functional perspective on emotions, feelings like anger, sadness, and joy serve specific purposes. They arise in response to particular situations and guide behavior in ways that help people reach their goals. The researchers proposed that boredom fits into this framework by acting as a signal that one’s current activity is no longer satisfying or meaningful, prompting a shift toward something new — even if that “something new” isn’t necessarily enjoyable.

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