The experience of boredom: The role of the self-perception of attention.

The effect of the self-perception of inattention on feeling bored was investigated. Ss in a listening situation were simultaneously distracted (a) not at all, (b) moderately, or (c) loudly. As hypothesized, Ss who were distracted by extraneous noise at levels too tow to be recognized as a distraction reported that they felt more bored and that the task was less pleasant. That is, they attributed their inattention to the material as opposed to the distraction. Extraverts required louder distractions than introverts to produce boredom. These findings extend self-perception theory in an important direction. This is the first demonstration of a self-perception being based on a cognitive, rather than a physical, action.