Having a break or being imprisoned: influence of subjective interpretations of quarantine and isolation on boredom
- Boredom has been identified as one of the greatest psychological challenges when staying at home during quarantine and isolation. However, this does not mean that the situation necessarily causes boredom. On the basis of 13 explorative interviews with bored and non-bored persons who have been under quarantine or in isolation, we explain why boredom is related to a subjective interpretation process rather than being a direct consequence of the objective situation. Specifically, we show that participants vary significantly in their interpretations of staying at home and, thus, also in their experience of boredom. While the non-bored participants interpret the situation as a relief or as irrelevant, the bored participants interpret it as a major restriction that only some are able to cope with.
| Author details: | Silke OhlmeierORCiD, Corinna KlinglerORCiDGND, Isabell SchellartzORCiD, Holger PfaffORCiDGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042207 |
| ISSN: | 1660-4601 |
| ISSN: | 1661-7827 |
| Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35206395 |
| Title of parent work (English): | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
| Publisher: | MDPI |
| Place of publishing: | Basel |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Date of first publication: | 2022/02/15 |
| Publication year: | 2022 |
| Release date: | 2024/01/03 |
| Tag: | COVID-19; boredom; quarantine; social constructivism |
| Volume: | 19 |
| Issue: | 4 |
| Article number: | 2207 |
| Number of pages: | 21 |
| Organizational units: | Fakultät für Gesundheitswissenschaften |
| DDC classification: | 6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit |
| License (German): |  CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |
