Burnout or boreout: A meta-analytic review and synthesis of burnout and boreout literature in hospitality and tourism

ABSTRACT

“Boreout” is a psychological state of intense boredom and apathy. It occurs when a task lacks mental stimuli (i.e., menial tasks). Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged and excessive stress. Boreout and burnout are inversely related concepts with similar antecedents and consequences. Tourism and hospitality scholars and practitioners are desperate to understand the potential antecedents and consequences of boreout as well as mediators and moderators. Due to the scarcity of boreout-related studies, this meta-review identifies variables associated with burnout and cross-fertilizes their relevance in the boreout domain. A total of 111 articles published between 1990 and 2020 were reviewed, several applicable research propositions and theoretical frameworks are prescribed, and conclusions as to future directions for research on boreout are highlighted.

“極度無聊”是一種非常無聊和冷漠的心理狀態。它發生在一項任務缺乏精神刺激（即乏味的工作）時。 “極度疲憊”是由於長期和過度的壓力引起的情緒、身體和精神的疲憊狀態。 “極度無聊”和“極度疲憊”是反向相關的概念，但具有相似的起因和後果。 旅遊和酒店業的學者和從業者，以及與此相關的中間人和調解人都迫切希望了解“極度無聊”的潛在起因和後果。由於缺乏與其相關的研究，這個元審查確定了與“極度無聊”相關的變量，並交叉說明了它們在無聊領域的相關性。 回顧了1990 年至 2020 年間發表的111 篇文章，提出了幾個適用的研究命題和理論框架，並強調了關於‘極度無聊’未來研究方向的結論。

KEYWORDS:

• Burnout
• boreout
• boredom
• meta-analysis
• meta-review
• tourism
• hospitality

Acknowledgments

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The authors have no conflict of interest.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

A. Mohammed Abubakar

Mohammed Abubakar: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Resources, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing

Hamed Rezapouraghdam

Hamed Rezapouraghdam: Conceptualization, Validation, Investigation, Resources, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing

Elaheh Behravesh

Elaheh Behravesh: Conceptualization, Validation, Investigation, Resources, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing, Visualization

Huda A. Megeirhi

Huda A. Megeirhi: Investigation, Resources, Writing - Original Draft