The Moral Psychology of Boredom

Andreas Elpidorou

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2022
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781786615398
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Ethics & Moral Philosophy
• Index: Psychology

Whether we like it or not, boredom is a major part of human life. It permeates our personal, social, practical, and moral existence. It shapes our world by demarcating what is engaging, interesting, or meaningful from what is not. It also sets us in motion insofar as its presence can motivate us to act in a plethora of ways. Indeed, in our search for engagement, interest, or meaning, our responses to boredom straddle the line between the good and the bad, the beneficial and the harmful, the creative and the mundane. In this volume, world-renowned researchers come together to explore a neglected but crucially important aspect of boredom: its relationship to morality. Does boredom cause individuals to commit immoral acts? Does it affect our moral judgment? Does the frequent or chronic experience boredom make us worse people? Is the experience of boredom something that needs to be avoided at all costs? Or can boredom be, at least sometimes, a solution and a positive moral force? The Moral Psychology of Boredom sets out to answer these and other timely questions.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• The Moral Significance of Boredom: An Introduction
• 1 From Electric Shocks to the Electoral College: How Boredom Steers Moral Behavior
• 2 The Existential Sting of Boredom: Implications for Moral Judgments and Behavior
• 3 Boredom and the Lost Self
• 4 “Rage Spread Thin”: Boredom and Aggression
• 5 Losing and Finding Agency: The Crisis of Boredom
• 6 Boredom Mismanagement and Attributions of Social and Moral Costs
• 7 Boredom and Poverty: A Theoretical Model
• 8 The Epistemic Benefits of Irrational Boredom
• 9 Boredom as Cognitive Appetite
• 10 Boredom, Interest, and Meaning in Life
• 11 Parallels to Boredom in Nonhuman Animals
• 12 The Long Hard Road Out of Boredom
• Index
• About the Contributors