Music and Boredom: A First Insight Into an Unexplored Relationship

While the positive effects of music listening have received much attention, insights into negative are rare, such as experience boredom. In two consecutive online surveys using qualitative (N = 266) and quantitative methods 719), participants were asked to retrospectively report their boredom while music. The depends on a combination factors, musical features or styles combined with certain situation, dislike that Boredom is also accompanied by feelings high low arousal annoyance, anger, fatigue, listlessness. Notably, in context does not only refer an emotional state but used disparaging judgment associated “boring” music, repetition monotony, go along perceived simplicity uniformity specific (e.g., German schlager, pop, EDM, rap). Overall, prevalence during was current sample, where 77% never rarely boredom, 46% experiencing it moderately very severely when occurs. Participants higher perceptual abilities more frequently intensely, active engagement agreeableness seem prevent one from “musical” results align typical aspects general contribute understanding variety factors compose averse form aesthetic