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Coronavirus

    • Social conservatives more likely to break COVID-19 restrictions out of boredom: study

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    A suggests that people who are bored are more likely to break COVID-19 protocols, and new research shows that there is a link between boredom, social conservatism and rule breaking.

    The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Waterloo, Duke University and Essex University, was first published in the journal Motivation and Emotion on May 25.

    “Boredom prone people are more likely to break the rules, that sort of begs the question, why might that be so?†James Danckert, professor of psychology at the University of Waterloo and co-author of the study, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Friday.

    The researchers asked 924 participants about their political ideologies because since the outset of the pandemic, various public health guidelines, such as wearing masks, physical distancing and lockdowns have been viewed differently depending on where someone might fall on the political spectrum.

    “Some of the things that have been mandated during the pandemic have become highly politicized,†he said.

    Researchers found that people who had more social conservative leanings were more likely to break COVID-19 rules.

    “They really feel that the government shouldn't be involved in their lives and the government shouldn't be able to tell them what to do,†he said. “So these restrictions of social distancing and mask wearing are unfair to them.â€

    People who are prone to boredom often feel as though they are lacking meaning in their life and what they are doing, said Danckert.

    “One way to reestablish meaning is just sort of double down on those things that are important for yourself to be, and politics is one of those things,†he added.

    “People who find [public health] measures a threat to their identity, and who suffer from boredom a lot, find breaking the rules helps them re-establish a sense of meaning and identity. Boredom threatens our need to make meaning out of life and some things such as politics can strengthen our sense of identity and meaning.â€

    Researchers say that when people are bored and asked about their political ideologies, they tended to more firmly believe in those ideologies.

    “They become more strongly committed when they're bored because they're trying to reestablish that sense of meaning,†said Danckert.

    And some of the COVID-19 restrictions and protocols may seem like they are targeting their identity.

    “It might be the case that people who are strongly conservative, for instance, feel like mask wearing is a threat to their identity,†he said.

    Researchers also found that there was an apparent connection between people who were bored and leaned more conservative on the political spectrum.

    “In our study, certainly the stronger correlation was between boredom proneness and people who hold social conservative ideology,†said Danckert.

    This doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to be done and that those leaning politically right will break the rules no matter what -- this is an opportunity to refocus public health messaging, said Danckert.

    “We can change our public messaging to emphasize the things that we all want, regardless of what kind of political stripe we are, whether or not you vote conservative or liberal is irrelevant to the fact that we all want to protect our children, we all want to protect our elders, and we all want to get back to some semblance of normal.â€

    Instead of pointing fingers and placing blame at an individual level, Danckert says public health agencies can appeal to a wider audience by emphasizing the common ground we all share.

    “If we can emphasize the things that we have in common, other than the individual responsibility, I think that might go some of the way to getting better compliance.â€

    When it comes down to it, boredom is about feeling a lack of control says Danckert, but there are some things you can do to try to limit boredom.

    “First of all, it's important when you're bored to try and take deep breaths and calm down because boredom is uncomfortable, restless, sort of an agitating experience,†said Danckert.

    The other thing to do is to reflect on the feeling of boredom, and there are two things to think about at this stage, he added.

    “What about right now is boring? Can I change the way I think about it?†he said. “The other way to reflect and think about it is: what matters most to me in my life? What are the kinds of things that I find most important? What do I want to hear? and am I pursuing those goals in positive ways?â€

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