The European Journal of Social Psychology has published a set of experiments that suggests that people who tend toward political extremism suffer from boredom more than everybody else.
In their initial experiment the researchers recruited 97 people from a university campus. The participants first indicated their political orientation (whether they considered themselves liberal or conservative) before being randomly assigned to complete either a task deemed to be highly boring or a comparatively less boring task. …
The researchers found that liberals in the low boredom group were more moderate in their political orientation, compared to liberals in the high boredom group. A similar trend was found for conservatives, though it was not statistically significant as there were only 26 politically right-wing participants, which reduced the study’s statistical power. …
The study authors also conducted a survey of 859 people living in Ireland and found that people who were easily bored tended to endorse more extreme political views. Another survey of 300 people found that being prone to boredom was associated with searching for meaning in life, which was in turn associated with political extremism. …
The study authors also conducted a survey of 859 people living in Ireland and found that people who were easily bored tended to endorse more extreme political views. Another survey of 300 people found that being prone to boredom was associated with searching for meaning in life, which was in turn associated with political extremism.
Dr Wijnand van Tilburg from King’s College London said: ‘Boredom puts people on edge – it makes them seek engagements that are challenging, exciting, and that offer a sense of purpose. Political ideologies can aid this existential quest.’
He added: ‘Boredom motivates people to alter their situation and fosters the engagement in activities that seem more meaningful than those currently at hand.’ The authors suggest that adopting a more extreme political ideology is one way that people re-inject meaningfulness into a boring situation.
While people choose political views based on a variety of factors, the creeping and insidious nature of political argumentation, both in the U.S. and elsewhere, may be a factor driving people to political extremes, say the studies authors, because it releases them from their humdrum existence.
Of course, people could choose to participate in exciting activities that aren’t politically motivated, like bull riding or car racing. Then perhaps there’d be less partisanship and better solutions to policy differences.
