When do we find a person boring? The study of traits and cognition

A person who works as an accountant, does nothing in his spare time or most of the time watches TV and rarely has an opinion of his own, can have a bad hand when looking for a partner. At least that’s what scientists Wijnand AP van Tilburg, Eric R. Igou and Mehr Panjwani see.

The three researchers investigated the descriptions people stereotypically assigned to boring people and how these people are then perceived. at “Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin It’s devastating: a boring person tends to be seen as incompetent, cold, and rejected by others.

For their investigation, the researchers first determined in two sub-studies which personality traits, jobs, and hobbies are associated with boring people and how strongly any attribution influences. For example, participants rated people who had no hobbies, humor, or opinions as particularly boring. Phrases such as “simple”, “bad artist” or “non-innovative” also made it into the top ten.

These jobs are especially boring

Even if you want to make an impact on a date that you work as a data analyst, accountant, or tax clerk, you should think carefully about it. According to the study, these professions are seen as particularly boring. However, there are also jobs on the list that have nothing to do with numbers and office chairs, such as teachers or people who work in journalism or science.

According to the study, people without hobbies are considered boring (see Personality Traits) – but that doesn’t mean that taking up any hobby simply helps. According to the results of the study, for example, activities such as sleeping, religion, watching TV, watching animals, and doing math causes the other person to yawn.

Boredom seems to have an effect on other areas as well. In other sub-studies, researchers determined that a bored person is usually seen as incompetent and unfriendly. Even worse, a boring person is more likely to be avoided than an interesting one.

The meaning of real life

However, don’t get carried away by someone who seems unimportant on paper. Because the study refers to the perception of stereotypes, not the perception of real people. This is also evident from the structure of the study. For example, participants were asked to rate how bored they were of finding someone working in a library. Of course, librarians can be very different in real life.

Therefore, the usefulness of the study results is questionable. The sample in each sub-study was just over a hundred people, in one case only about 50 people. Scientists also note that the participants came from Great Britain and the USA. Cultural differences can lead to different outcomes that are achieved in other countries.