Not so average: Heterogenous boredom dynamics during an incremental physical effort task

Boredom is a dynamic motivational state that signals disengagement and promotes behavioral change. Despite the centrality of temporal dynamics in conceptualizations of boredom, little empirical work has examined how it unfolds over time during sustained performance and how these dynamics relate to behavioral outcomes. To address this gap, we tracked boredom throughout an incremental cycling ergometer task that was performed until voluntary disengagement. We assessed changes in boredom and examined how boredom dynamics related to perceived physical and cognitive effort and task performance. Individual boredom and effort trajectories were decomposed using functional principal component analysis (fPCA). Whereas physical and cognitive effort showed largely homogenous increases over time, boredom exhibited pronounced interindividual variability, reflecting stable individual differences in overall boredom level and temporal boredom trends. The temporal trend in boredom, but not the boredom level, was associated with performance: greater alignment with decreasing (rather than increasing) boredom trends predicted longer persistence, even after controlling for perceived physical and cognitive effort. These findings corroborate the notion that boredom is not an ‘average’ experience; rather, it is a dynamic process whose temporal unfolding varies systematically across individuals and is directly linked to task persistence. This study provides novel empirical evidence for boredom dynamics, highlighting the value of tracking dynamic subjective experiences to understand task engagement and performance, and of incorporating temporal aspects into contemporary theories of boredom.