People With Higher Levels of Self-Compassion Experience Less Boredom, Study Says

Key TakeawaysBoredom is common, but experts believe one way to reduce it is to practice self-compassion.A recent study found that individuals who have high levels of self-compassion are less prone to boredom.Meditation and breathework are two ways to learn to cultivate self-compassion.

Key Takeaways

Boredom is common, but experts believe one way to reduce it is to practice self-compassion.A recent study found that individuals who have high levels of self-compassion are less prone to boredom.Meditation and breathework are two ways to learn to cultivate self-compassion.

Everybody gets bored now and then. But some people are less likely toexperience boredomthan others—and it may have something to do with how they treat themselves, say researchers.

A new study, published inPersonality and Individual Differences, found that people who experience greater feelings of compassion towards themselves are typically less likely to feel bored. A crucial part of this is their perceptions of meaning in life.

“Chronic boredom, often referred to as ‘boredom proneness’, is linked to many negative outcomes for the individual and society at large,” says study author Muireann O’Dea, a PhD researcher in psychology at the University of Limerick.

However, little is known about how to reduce and prevent this form of boredom. This prompted the researchers to investigate how endorsing a positive psychological mindset like self-compassion could impact boredom experiences.

What is Self-Compassion?

Muireann O’Dea, PhDIt appears that individuals who have high levels of self-compassion are less prone to boredom. In particular, self-compassion is associated with increased perceptions of meaning in life and consequently less boredom.

Muireann O’Dea, PhD

It appears that individuals who have high levels of self-compassion are less prone to boredom. In particular, self-compassion is associated with increased perceptions of meaning in life and consequently less boredom.

Eric Igou, PhD, and Wijnand van Tilburg, PhD, two of O’Dea’s fellow authors, have previously established how boredom triggers a perceived lack of meaning in life and a consequent desire to reinstate meaning.“We have now started to research how sources of meaning can also hinder experiences of boredom in the first instance,” says O’Dea.

A Closer Look at the Study

First, the researchers carried out a pilot study of 49 undergraduate students and found that self-compassionate individuals tended to be less prone to boredom. Next, they used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform to conduct a second study with 265 participants, then a third study with 191 participants.

The studies examined both dispositional self-compassion (i.e. a person’s general tendency to be compassionate towards themselves) and state self-compassion (a person’s level of self-compassion at that particular moment). The studies also examined both boredom proneness (a general tendency to become bored) and state boredom (how bored a person feels at that particular moment).

“It appears that individuals who have high levels of self-compassion are less prone to boredom. In particular, self-compassion is associated with increased perceptions of meaning in life and consequently less boredom,” says O’Dea.

The research suggests that not only ispracticing self-compassionbeneficial for your overall well-being but it may also help to reduce your boredom levels,” O’Dea says. “Importantly, the benefits from the increased perceptions of meaning in life that self-compassion imbues is specific to boredom, not negative affect.”

People With Higher Levels of Self-Compassion Experience Less Boredom, Study Says

How to Foster Self-Compassion

Elisabeth Netherton, MD, a psychiatrist and Regional Medical Director with Mindpath Health, believes that when we have self-compassion we hold ourselves in regard and extend ourselves grace in the same way that we would extend grace to someone else. But self-compassion isn’t an attribute we just wake up with one morning—it takes practice to cultivate it.

We can do this through daily practice, starting with taking notice of our thoughts and how we talk to ourselves. “As you notice that you are talking to yourself in a negative way, you can practice reframing or rephrasing those thoughts to allow for more kindness,” says Dr. Netherton.

Elisabeth Netherton, MDAs you notice that you are talking to yourself in a negative way, you can practice reframing or rephrasing those thoughts to allow for more kindness.

Elisabeth Netherton, MD

As you notice that you are talking to yourself in a negative way, you can practice reframing or rephrasing those thoughts to allow for more kindness.

The recent study makes sense, she adds, as people who derive a high degree of meaning from life are often quite active in pursuits and roles that contribute to that sense of meaning.

O’Dea says self-compassion is a malleable personality trait that can be fostered through journaling and meditation techniques, offering the potential to mitigate boredom experiences.

Christy Whitman, a transformational leader and two-time New York Times bestselling author, sees self-compassion as energy. “It is an inner action that allows you to soothe and comfort yourself when things are not as you would like them to be,” she says. “It is a way to feel yourself and allow yourself to have your experience and emotions, but move through them; it neutralizes energy from lower-level emotions into higher-level emotions.”

Self-Compassion Makes Life More Manageable

How Can I Forgive Myself? A Therapist Explains

2 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.O’Dea MK, Igou ER, van Tilburg WAP, Kinsella EL.Self-compassion predicts less boredom: The role of meaning in life.Personality and Individual Differences. 2022;186:111360. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.111360van Tilburg WAP, Igou ER, Sedikides C.In search of meaningfulness: Nostalgia as an antidote to boredom.Emotion. 2013;13(3):450-461. doi:10.1037/a0030442

2 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.O’Dea MK, Igou ER, van Tilburg WAP, Kinsella EL.Self-compassion predicts less boredom: The role of meaning in life.Personality and Individual Differences. 2022;186:111360. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.111360van Tilburg WAP, Igou ER, Sedikides C.In search of meaningfulness: Nostalgia as an antidote to boredom.Emotion. 2013;13(3):450-461. doi:10.1037/a0030442

O’Dea MK, Igou ER, van Tilburg WAP, Kinsella EL.Self-compassion predicts less boredom: The role of meaning in life.Personality and Individual Differences. 2022;186:111360. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.111360van Tilburg WAP, Igou ER, Sedikides C.In search of meaningfulness: Nostalgia as an antidote to boredom.Emotion. 2013;13(3):450-461. doi:10.1037/a0030442

van Tilburg WAP, Igou ER, Sedikides C.In search of meaningfulness: Nostalgia as an antidote to boredom.Emotion. 2013;13(3):450-461. doi:10.1037/a0030442

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Key Takeaways#

What is Self-Compassion?#

Muireann O’Dea, PhD#

A Closer Look at the Study#

How to Foster Self-Compassion#

Elisabeth Netherton, MD#