Boredom: Exploration of a developmental perspective

This article presents an examination of the phenomenon of boredom in adults and searches for a developmental explanation for boredom by using clues from the cumulative literature on boredom, clinical interviews with bored adults and findings from infant observational studies. The author attempts to link behaviors observed in infant research with the phenomenon of adult boredom toward the goal of contributing to a more precise meaning of this state of mind in both the patient and the therapist.Material in this article is drawn in part from a dissertation completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. at Smith College School for Social Work, 1983. The author wishes to thank the subjects for their interest and reflections.