Test Boredom While Working on Difficult versus Easy Tasks: The Same Emotion but Different Effects on Performance

The focus of this work was on test boredom experienced while working on difficult versus easy tasks. In Study 1 (N = 208 8th graders), we investigated the structural validity of test boredom while working on difficult tasks (i.e., overchallenge boredom) versus easy tasks (i.e., underchallenge boredom). Supporting our hypotheses, the Test Boredom Scale-State (TBS-S) demonstrated scalar invariance across both situations, with weak-to-moderate correlations of boredom between the two situations. Also consistent with our hypotheses, a prototypical single boredom item from the TBS-S showed measurement invariance but weak correlations across situations. These findings suggest that test boredom represents the same emotion in both situations and can be validly assessed with a single item. Based on these findings, in Study 2 (N = 132 university students), we used this item to test the hypothesis that test boredom reduces cognitive resources and reduces performance when working on difficult tasks but not when working on easy tasks (i.e., the abundance hypothesis). We used an experimental within-person design in which participants worked on both difficult and easy digit span memory tasks. As expected, the results indicated that boredom experienced during difficult tasks negatively affected performance by reducing cognitive resources (measured via reaction time), a consequence of processing boredom. In contrast, boredom experienced during easy tasks had no negative impact on performance, likely because cognitive resources remained abundant even when processing boredom. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.