Finding Something for Yourself: Exploring Boredom Through the Lens of Identity Development

Boredom is a complex human experience understood through psychodynamic, arousal, cognitive, and existential perspectives. Despite significant contributions from these perspectives, this paper highlights two key challenges to understanding boredom: the depth of boredom – whether it is a minor or significant aspect of human experience – and the role of personal meaning in theories of boredom. I propose an initial framework for understanding boredom by integrating insights from different theoretical traditions, particularly in relation to identity development. Drawing on the work of Erik Erikson and Ruthellen Josselson, I explore how boredom connects to the experience of Holding and how identity concern and exploration contribute to this phenomenon. I illustrate this framework with examples from in-depth interviews with adolescents and young adults, analyzing their experiences of boredom through life narratives. The paper also offers new insights into the long-term tendency of individuals to experience boredom – i.e., trait boredom.