Abstract:
While theoretical connections between social inequity and boredom have been established, empirical evidence is lacking. Inequity aversion is important in this relationship. If individuals believe that the amount of work invested in pursuing an outcome has been unfairly devalued in relation to the investment of others, they may feel that their investment is greater than the outcome\'s worth. This experimental study explores whether devaluation of one\'s investment in a task, in relation to another individual\'s investment required to obtain equal rewards, is experienced as boredom. Undergraduate and graduate students (N = 31) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions and performed a monotonous task in the presence of a confederate, for equal reward. Exposure time to the confederate varied. It was expected that participants who spent more time on the task than the confederate would report more boredom and a negatively distorted time experience. Significant between-group effects were found for Tedium (F(2, 28) = 3.55, p = .04) and Temporal Estimation (F(2, 28) = 5.37, p = .01). Participants who spent more time on the task felt more bored (Mdiff = -1.05, p = .05) and rated time as progressing slower (Mdiff = -1.26, p = .03). There were no significant differences between the other conditions. A parsimonious interpretation is that the perceived inequity in resource investment costs associated with different lengths of social exposure during the boredom-inducing task increased the salience of investment loss, which was experienced as boredom and resulted in a distorted time experience.
摘要:
虽然社会不平等和无聊之间的理论联系已经建立,缺乏经验证据。厌恶不平等在这种关系中很重要。如果个人认为为追求结果而投入的工作量相对于他人的投资已不公平地贬值,他们可能会觉得他们的投资大于结果的价值。这项实验研究探讨了一个人在一项任务中的投资是否贬值,就获得同等报酬所需的另一个人的投资而言,经历了无聊。本科生和研究生(N=31)被随机分配到三个条件之一,并在同盟存在的情况下执行单调的任务,平等的奖励。暴露于同盟的时间各不相同。预计在任务上花费比同盟更多时间的参与者会报告更多的无聊和负面扭曲的时间体验。对于Tedium(F(2,28)=3.55,p=.04)和时间估计(F(2,28)=5.37,p=.01),发现了显着的组间效应。花更多时间在任务上的参与者感到更无聊(Mdiff=-1.05,p=.05),并认为时间进展较慢(Mdiff=-1.26,p=.03)。其他条件之间没有显著差异。一个简约的解释是,在无聊诱导任务期间,与不同长度的社会暴露相关的资源投资成本的感知不平等增加了投资损失的显著性,经历了无聊,导致了扭曲的时间体验。