Engagement and synchrony : the experience of boredom in adolescence

This research project was a phenomenological exploration and descriptive analysis of the experience of boredom in normal adolescents ages thirteen through eighteen. An empirical phenomenological approach was used, in which the method of data collection involved interviewing eighteen adolescent participant/subjects who articulated their experien of boredom in various situations and at various times in their lives.

Data reduction was accomplished by progressively collapsing the interview protocol data into a smaller number of thematic dimensions, which ultimately produced an organized system consisting of two major dimensions and their related categories: (1) Engagement with Self, Others, and World; and (2) Synchrony of Body, Time, and World. A reliability test of the thematic organization was made using two independent judges. A Scoring Manual was developed, and all interview protocols at the level of second reductions were scored for occurrence of thematic dimensions and related categories.

Results of the research project were discussed in terms of their relationship to previous theoretical conceptualizations and research literature, and suggestions for further research. Cautious conclusions were drawn about the relationship between one kind of boredom, a temporary and non-problematic type, and a second, pathological type which occurs chronically and pervasively in some patient populations. Further observations were made to support recent evidence that normal adolescents do not exhibit psychic disequilibrium and behavioral problems as a rule during the adolescent passage.

Suggestions for further research included the need for current elaborations of the adolescent passage from the adolescent subject's viewpoint, and more specifically, for a careful comparative study of the occurrence of boredom in normal vs. pathological populations from latency into young adulthood.