Pandemic Boredom: Little Evidence That Lockdown-Related Boredom Affects Risky Public Health Behaviors Across 116 Countries
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Standard
In: Emotion, Vol. 23, No. 8, 13.03.2023, p. 2370-2384.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Pandemic Boredom
T2 - Little Evidence That Lockdown-Related Boredom Affects Risky Public Health Behaviors Across 116 Countries
AU - Westgate, Erin C.
AU - Buttrick, Nicholas R.
AU - Lin, Yijun
AU - El Helou, Gaelle
AU - Agostini, Maximilian
AU - Bélanger, Jocelyn J.
AU - G€utzkow, Ben
AU - Kreienkamp, Jannis
AU - Abakoumkin, Georgios
AU - Khaiyom, Jamilah Hanum Abdul
AU - Ahmedi, Vjollca
AU - Akkas, Handan
AU - Almenara, Carlos A.
AU - Atta, Mohsin
AU - Bagci, Sabahat Cigdem
AU - Basel, Sima
AU - Kida, Edona Berisha
AU - Bernardo, Allan B.I.
AU - Chobthamkit, Phatthanakit
AU - Choi, Hoon Seok
AU - Cristea, Mioara
AU - Csaba, Sára
AU - Damnjanovic, Kaja
AU - Danyliuk, Ivan
AU - Dash, Arobindu
AU - Di Santo, Daniela
AU - Douglas, Karen M.
AU - Enea, Violeta
AU - Faller, Daiane Gracieli
AU - Fitzsimons, Gavan
AU - Gheorghiu, Alexandra
AU - Gómez, Ángel
AU - Hamaidia, Ali
AU - Han, Qing
AU - Helmy, Mai
AU - Hudiyana, Joevarian
AU - Jeronimus, Bertus F.
AU - Jiang, Ding Yu
AU - Jovanović, Veljko
AU - Kamenov, Željka
AU - Kende, Anna
AU - Keng, Shian Ling
AU - Kieu, Tra Thi Thanh
AU - Koc, Yasin
AU - Kovyazina, Kamila
AU - Kozytska, Inna
AU - Krause, Joshua
AU - Kruglanski, Arie W.
AU - Kurapov, Anton
AU - Kutlaca, Maja
AU - Lantos, Nóra Anna
AU - Lemay, Edward P.
AU - Lesmana, Cokorda Bagus Jaya
AU - Louis, Winnifred R.
AU - Lueders, Adrian
AU - Maj, Marta
AU - Malik, Najma Iqbal
AU - Martinez, Anton
AU - McCabe, Kira O.
AU - Mehulić, Jasmina
AU - Milla, Mirra Noor
AU - Mohammed, Idris
AU - Molinario, Erica
AU - Moyano, Manuel
AU - Muhammad, Hayat
AU - Mula, Silvana
AU - Muluk, Hamdi
AU - Myroniuk, Solomiia
AU - Najafi, Reza
AU - Nisa, Claudia F.
AU - Nyúl, Boglárka
AU - O’Keefe, Paul A.
AU - Osuna, Jose Javier Olivas
AU - Osin, Evgeny N.
AU - Park, Joonha
AU - Pica, Gennaro
AU - Pierro, Antonio
AU - Rees, Jonas
AU - Reitsema, Anne Margit
AU - Resta, Elena
AU - Rullo, Marika
AU - Ryan, Michelle K.
AU - Samekin, Adil
AU - Santtila, Pekka
AU - Sasin, Edyta
AU - Schumpe, Birga M.
AU - Selim, Heyla A.
AU - Stanton, Michael Vicente
AU - Stroebe, Wolfgang
AU - Sutton, Robbie M.
AU - Tseliou, Eleftheria
AU - Utsugi, Akira
AU - van Breen, Jolien Anne
AU - Lissa, Caspar J.Van
AU - Veen, Kees Van
AU - van Dellen, Michelle R.
AU - Vázquez, Alexandra
AU - Wollast, Robin
AU - Yeung, Victoria Wai lan
AU - Zand, Somayeh
AU - Žežzelj, Iris Lav
AU - Zheng, Bang
AU - Zick, Andreas
AU - Zúñiga, Claudia
AU - Leander, N. Pontus
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 American Psychological Association
PY - 2023/3/13
Y1 - 2023/3/13
N2 - Some public officials have expressed concern that policies mandating collective public health behaviors (e.g., national/regional “lockdown”) may result in behavioral fatigue that ultimately renders such policies ineffective. Boredom, specifically, has been singled out as one potential risk factor for noncompliance. We examined whether there was empirical evidence to support this concern during the COVID-19 pandemic in a large cross-national sample of 63,336 community respondents from 116 countries. Although boredom was higher in countries with more COVID-19 cases and in countries that instituted more stringent lockdowns, such boredom did not predict longitudinal within-person decreases in social distancing behavior (or vice versa; n = 8,031) in early spring and summer of 2020. Overall, we found little evidence that changes in boredom predict individual public health behaviors (handwashing, staying home, self-quarantining, and avoiding crowds) over time, or that such behaviors had any reliable longitudinal effects on boredom itself.
AB - Some public officials have expressed concern that policies mandating collective public health behaviors (e.g., national/regional “lockdown”) may result in behavioral fatigue that ultimately renders such policies ineffective. Boredom, specifically, has been singled out as one potential risk factor for noncompliance. We examined whether there was empirical evidence to support this concern during the COVID-19 pandemic in a large cross-national sample of 63,336 community respondents from 116 countries. Although boredom was higher in countries with more COVID-19 cases and in countries that instituted more stringent lockdowns, such boredom did not predict longitudinal within-person decreases in social distancing behavior (or vice versa; n = 8,031) in early spring and summer of 2020. Overall, we found little evidence that changes in boredom predict individual public health behaviors (handwashing, staying home, self-quarantining, and avoiding crowds) over time, or that such behaviors had any reliable longitudinal effects on boredom itself.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Emotion
KW - Public Health
KW - Self-Regulation
KW - Simpson’S Paradox
KW - Business psychology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150803743&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/a8112ecf-6f0c-368a-89d4-e45a2f8c8cab/
U2 - 10.1037/emo0001118
DO - 10.1037/emo0001118
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 36913277
AN - SCOPUS:85150803743
VL - 23
SP - 2370
EP - 2384
JO - Emotion
JF - Emotion
SN - 1528-3542
IS - 8
ER -