Bored participants, biased data? How boredom can influence behavioral science research and what we can do about it
Maria Meier, Corinna Martarelli, Wanja Wolff
Abstract
Behavioral researchers tend to study behaviour in highly controlled laboratory settings to minimize effects of potential confounders. Yet, while doing so, the artificial setup itself might unintentionally introduce noise or confounders, such as boredom. In this perspective, we draw upon theoretical and empirical evidence to make the case that a) some experimental setups are likely to induce boredom in participants, b) the degree of boredom induced might differ between individuals as a function of differences in trait boredom, c) boredom can impair participants’ attention, can make study participation more effortful, and can increase the urge to do something else (i.e., to disengage from the study). Most importantly, we argue that some participants might adjust their behaviour because they are bored. Considering boredom’s potential for adding noise to data, or for being an unwanted confound, we discuss a set of recommendations on how to control for, and deal with the occurrence and effects of boredom in behavioral science research.