2021/04/30 by Emily Weiss, McWelling Todman, Özge Pazar +3 · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Mind wandering and attention #Behavioral Health and Interventions #Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies #Boredom #Psychology #Trait #Time perception #Association (psychology) #Perception #Feeling #Task (project management) #Social psychology #Developmental psychology #Cognitive psychology
paper · pdf · doi:10.37708/psyct.v14i1.559
openalex publication_date 2021/04/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
An abundance of empirical research has established that a robust, positive association exists between feelings of boredom and the illusion of temporal slowing. Although state and trait forms of boredom are distinct constructs, the way these variables interact with one another to impact time perception is unknown. To further explore the association between boredom and time perception, a modified replication of a study that examined the impact of discrepancies between expected and perceived time progression on hedonic appraisals was conducted. The paradigm was extended through the inclusion of validated measures of trait and recent state boredom. Seventy-two participants (N = 72, aged 18-52, M = 23.06, SD = 5.73) were led to believe that they would perform an intrinsically unengaging task for 5 (Time Drags), 10 (Real Time), or 15 minutes (Time Flies). Consistent with previous findings, participants in the Time Drags condition reported time as progressing significantly slower than participants in the other two conditions. Moreover, participants in the Time Drags condition rated the task as significantly more aversive than did participants in the Time Flies condition. This association remained significant even when controlling for levels of trait and recent state boredom. However, the Real Time and Time Flies conditions did not differ from one another in terms of task ratings or perceived time progression. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.