ABSTRACT
The motivation to pursue novel opportunities and experiences is often attributed to interest, but this appears to be only part of the story. Theory and evidence show that the emotion of boredom also has an important and often overlooked function in motivating people to pursue novelty. We argue that boredom occurs when the current situation no longer evokes emotional responses, either because intensity has faded, because the situation is not relevant to goals, or because the person has no goals. This boredom is accompanied by a negative and aversive feeling, reduced attention to the current task, increased physiological arousal, and a desire for novelty. These changes prepare the person to pursue new and different situations. From a theoretical perspective, this is the function of boredom—to prompt exploration. But this does not necessarily result in beneficial choices. Whether or not the drive to explore is beneficial for people’s lives depends on how they respond to boredom. People who have trouble engaging with new goals—and experience frequent boredom as a result—often engage in novel behaviors that have negative consequences, such as drug abuse or gambling. Other people engage quickly with new goals and experience boredom as a fleeting state, engaging in new social, emotional, and experiential opportunities that would have been missed without exploration.
