Some Reflections on Boredom
- 1 April 1979
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
- Vol. 27 (2) , 423-439
- https://doi.org/10.1177/000306517902700208
Abstract
Boredom is a complex mental phenomenon, incorporating both affective and cognitive components, which cannot be understood within the confines of conflict theory alone. The paucity of fantasy in the bored person may reflect a developmental ego defect as well as, or instead of, the commonly-cited impulse-defense conflicts. The need for externally-supplied stimulation characteristic of persons with a field-dependent cognitive style, and/or characterological passivity may be among the significant predisposing factors for the development of boredom, and phase-specific factors may encourage its occurrence at particular periods of life. Boredom in the analyst, too, is multiply determined; the analytic situation itself contains features that contribute to it.This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit:
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