The effects of smartphone facilitated social media use, treadmill walking, and schoolwork on boredom in college students: Results of a within subjects, controlled experiment

• Published in: Computers in human behavior Vol. 114; p. 106555
• Main Authors: Barkley, Jacob E., Lepp, Andrew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elmsford Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2021; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Boredom; College students; Design of experiments; Digital media; Fitness equipment; Homework; Negative affect; Recreation; Smartphone; Smartphones; Social media; Social networks; Students; Treadmills; Walking; Within-subjects design; Boredom; Smartphone; Social media; Negative affect; Homework
• ISSN: 0747-5632; 1873-7692
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2020.106555

Smartphone and social media use are common leisure activities among college students. These activities are correlated with boredom in survey research, yet causality is undetermined. Using an experimental design, we assessed the effect of smartphone use and other common, free-choice activities on boredom. For this study, 40 college students completed four, 30-min conditions on separate days each in the same room: quiet sitting (Control); treadmill walking (Treadmill); utilizing a smartphone to engage with social-media (Smartphone); and completing self-selected schoolwork (Schoolwork). Participants completed three validated surveys assessing different aspects of state boredom at pre, mid, and post for each condition. A four condition by three time-point repeated-measure ANOVA compared the mean results for each measure of boredom. Both the Smartphone and Control conditions caused statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) increases in all three measures of boredom. The Treadmill condition led to increases in two of the measures of boredom. Conversely, Schoolwork caused a statistically significant decrease in boredom across all three measures. Thus, given a 30-min free-choice period, students should be advised that doing schoolwork or, to a lesser extent, taking a walk might better prevent boredom than social media driven smartphone use. •The effect of common activities on boredom was assessed in a controlled experiment.•Smartphone facilitated social media use increased boredom.•Completing self-selected homework decreased boredom.•Treadmill walking in an empty room had mixed results.