State boredom results in optimistic perception of risk and increased risk-taking

ABSTRACT

While models considering the relationship between emotion and risk differ, many agree that emotions should affect risk in accordance with the adaptive function of the emotion. The function of boredom has been proposed to motivate the pursuit of an alternative experience. Based on this, we predicted that a state of boredom would result in an optimistic perception of risk and increased risk-taking. In Study 1 (n = 164) and Study 2 (n = 200) participants who were made bored (relative to neutral, anger, and fear conditions) reported less worry and concern and estimated fewer deaths for causes of death. Study 3 (n = 149) showed that participants who were made bored (compared to neutral and fear conditions) perceived risk more optimistically, reported being more likely to take risks, and perceived more potential benefits from taking risks. In Study 4 (n = 84) participants who were made bored (relative to neutral) took more risks on the Balloon Analogue Risk Task, a behavioural measure of risk. These findings show that state boredom results in an optimistic perception of risk, increased self-reported risk taking, and increased risk taking. Our results support boredom as an emotion that impacts risk in line with its function.

KEYWORDS:

• Boredom
• risk
• motivation
• emotion
• functional

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Alexus Wilson, Jeff Bassett and the Emotion and Cognition Lab for their assistance with data collection. We would also like to thank Morgan Pitts for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 IAPS image numbers: 5740, 6150, 7006, 7019, 7025, 7026, 7034, 7035, 7043, 7056, 7059, 7170, 7175, 7233, 7235.