Sadists are often just bored.
A group of researchers from Aarhus University found evidence that boredom can be a factor provoking sadistic behaviorPrevious research has shown that a large number of people engage in sadistic behavior, such as insulting others, ridicule, bullying, or physical abuse. In general, there are many ways to hurt other people.
In a new paper, researchers looked at the role of boredom in such behavior. To find out more, the researchers analyzed 9 unique studies on this topic:
- In the first, the researchers sent out tests to assess the personality of many people and included several questions about boredom. A closer look revealed that people were more likely to admit to intentionally harming others when they were bored.
- The second study examined the conditions in which the military is involved in harming their colleagues. Again found that boredom probably played a role.
- The third study included a study of «trolling» behavior of people on the Internet. It showed that people reported doing it more often when they were bored.
- In the fourth study, researchers observed adults verbally or physically abusing children, and again found that boredom was one factor.
Human Experiments
Noting that all of the first four studies were based on self-report scenarios, the scientists looked at other studies that involved conducting experiments and examining the results.
In the first, volunteers were asked to watch videos (some of which were boring) ). During the screening, volunteers were allowed to run the larvae through a coffee grinder to allay boredom (in fact, no larvae were harmed). The researchers found that the majority of the grub grinds were done by people who watched boring videos.
In two other experiments, online volunteers were allowed to decide whether to give more money to another participant or deduct funds from their account. Both studies showed that when people were bored, they were more likely to deduct money from the accounts of others.
In the end, the researchers suggested that boredom probably plays a role in sadistic behavior and that it is likely related to attempts to soften negative feelings associated with it.