Sociological research distinguishes between three types of boredom; the expert explains: situational boredom, which has no long-term consequences, for example, being stuck in a traffic jam or having to wait at the doctor’s office, and chronic boredom – for example, when a trainee does not get enough exciting tasks over a long period of time. The third type is existential boredom, “when life seems dull,” and you do not have enough time for 22Bet login.
Existential boredom can have far-reaching consequences, she explains. Studies show, for example, that this type of boredom is often associated with depression, addiction, and eating disorders.
Low Income and Little Education: How It Interacts With Boredom
A long-term study even came to the conclusion that people who were frequently bored had an above-average risk of dying. For this, as Ohlmeier explains, two epidemiologists interviewed more than 7,000 participants and followed them over a long period of time. Excessive boredom was reported above all by those who were only poorly qualified, had low-paid jobs, and did little physical activity. These people also died earlier on average. “So it was probably not the boredom itself that led to early death, but the precarious living conditions that were responsible for the boredom and also the high risk of death,” classifies the sociologist.
The fact that people with little education and low income were often bored is also confirmed by other studies. Ohlmeier explains: “Those with little money, prestige, and contacts find it more difficult in our society to gain access to satisfying activities. Hardly anyone wants to have a boring job, but depending on how I assess my chances of finding a more exciting job, I either come to terms with boredom or not.” In addition, money enables social participation in various activities, such as going to the movies, he said.
Low-paying, monotonous jobs do not automatically lead to boredom:But Ohlmeier says that doesn’t mean all low-paying jobs lead to boredom, and well-paying jobs never do. Instead, it’s about the perception of the people doing the job; she stresses: “It’s more about the fit between people and work, the work environment and how meaningful I find my job.” Boredom is possible even in high-paying and prestigious jobs, she says. She cites one of her acquaintances as an example: A lawyer who only doesn’t want to change jobs because he’s worried about losing status – but gets bored a lot as a lawyer.
The sociologist explains that boredom often has a stigma attached to it: if you are supposedly important to the company, you don’t have time to be bored. Boredom is also often treated as a personal failure. Yet children, especially toddlers, often don’t have the ability to occupy themselves for long periods of time and often need help from adults to do so. According to Ohlmeier, the following also applies to adolescents and adults: “To some extent, we can combat our boredom ourselves. But some people’s circumstances make it harder for them.”
Mothers and Fathers Deal With Boredom Differently
For her doctoral thesis, Ohlmeier evaluated posts in online forums in which mothers discussed the topic of boredom. The result: Some mothers saw their role in care work and household as important and did not feel bored. Those who were bored, however, suffered doubly, Ohlmeier said. They suffered from their boredom “and from the fact that they had failed society’s ideas of good motherhood. They thought motherhood would fill them up completely, and suffered from the fact that it didn’t.”
Shortening their parental leave to address the root cause of their structural boredom, however, was out of the question for them, she said. They had no other childcare options, and it would have been contrary to their idea of a mother.
Instead, the mothers shared suggestions online to fill their days, Ohlmeier describes: traveling a lot, going to the zoo, or to mother-child yoga. In her opinion, this was the wrong approach. Boredom doesn’t always arise from doing too little, she says, but also from doing the wrong thing: “If a mother wants more self-determined time, it doesn’t help much to go to the zoo twice as often.”
