The British Journal of Sociology
Volume 50 No.4 December l999
pages 63l-646
Abstract
Meaning is necessary in social processes. An absence of meaning in an activity or circumstance leads to an experience of boredom. This is a restless, irritable feeling that the subject's current activity or situation holds no appeal, and that there is a need to get on with something interesting. Thus boredom emotionally registers an absence of meaning and leads the actor in question towards meaning. Boredom, then, is central to key social processes centered on questions of meaningfulness. Given the pervasive preconditions for boredom, release from boredom is a factor that explains characteristic social practices, including risk taking and intergroup conflict.
Keywords: Boredom, emotions, meaning, explanation, risk, conflict
J.M. Barbalet
Department of Sociology
Leicester University