TRENDING SCIENCE: Are you boring? Just ask science

We can’t all be social butterflies, or the life of the party. Our jobs can’t always be super fulfilling or exciting to talk about. Sometimes we only have ourselves to blame for certain stereotypes. If you’re an accountant or collect stamps, you know what I mean.It could be worse, a lot worse. Are you a religious data analyst who likes watching TV and lives in a town? Then there’s no one more boring than you – anywhere!

That’s what a study led by the University of Essex in the United Kingdom and published in the ‘Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin’ claims. Researchers examined over 500 participants across 5 experiments about what makes a person boring based on a defined list of occupations, hobbies, personal attributes and even where they live.

Lead author Dr Wijnand van Tilburg from the Department of Psychology explained in a press release: “The irony is studying boredom is actually very interesting and has many real-life impacts. This paper shows how persuasive perceptions of boredom are and what an impact this can have on people. Perceptions can change but people may not take time to speak to those with ‘boring’ jobs and hobbies, instead choosing to avoid them. They don’t get a chance to prove people wrong and break these negative stereotypes. The very fact that people choose to avoid them can lead to social ostracization and increase loneliness leading to a really negative impact on their lives.”The top five most boring jobs are data analysis, accounting, tax/insurance, cleaning and banking. The top five dullest hobbies are sleeping (since when is an essential function a hobby?), religion, watching TV, observing animals and doing math. The findings also showed that stereotypically boring people have no interests, no sense of humour, lack opinions or are negative. The top five most exciting professions? Actors, scientists, journalists, health professionals and teachers have the best gigs.

Interestingly, boring people were also seen as incapable. “It was interesting to me to see the study showed that boring people were not seen as competent,” commented Dr van Tilburg. “I would have thought that accountants would be seen as boring, but effective and the perfect person to do a good job on your tax return. The truth of the matter is people like bankers and accountants are highly capable and have power in society - perhaps we should try not to upset them and stereotype them as boring!”

In addition, the researchers analysed the potential impact perception could have on a person’s relationships with colleagues and peers. The results were predictably negative. Participants were more likely to want to avoid peers considered very boring. They were also given a hypothetical scenario. How much would they want to be compensated financially for socialising with bores? About EUR 42 a day.

Work with numbers? Forget about the labels, the stigma that comes with it and society’s negative perceptions. Embrace the mundane – the world needs you!