2020/10/08 by Stefan Pfattheicher, Ljiljana B. Lazarević, Erin Corwin Westgate +1 · 1 voice · 6 citations
Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Impact of Technology on Adolescents #Mind wandering and attention #Personality Traits and Psychology
paper · doi:10.1037/pspi0000335
openalex publication_date 2020/10/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15
= 4,097). However, alternatives matter: When several behavioral alternatives are available, boredom only motivates sadistic behavior among individuals with high dispositional sadism (Study 7). Conversely, when there is no alternative, boredom increases sadistic behavior across the board, even among individuals low in dispositional sadism (Studies 8 and 9). We further show that excitement and novelty seeking mediate the effects of boredom, and that boredom not only promotes sadistic (proactive) aggression, but reactive aggression as well (Study 9). Overall, the present work contributes to a better understanding of sadism and highlights the destructive potential of boredom. We discuss implications for basic research on sadism and boredom, as well as applied implications for society at large. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).