The Effects Of State Boredom And Self-Control On Working Memory In University Students

Boredom is one of the most unusual human emotional experiences,yet it always seems to elude people.Existing research suggests that trait-type boredom accounts for only one-fifth of the boredom people experience in their daily lives,leaving nearly 80%due to environmental factors,or state boredom.While many previous studies have examined the impact of emotions on working memory,state boredom,as a negative emotional state,deserves our attention for its impact on working memory.In recent years,researchers have found that individuals in high states of boredom affect their spatial working memory performance.According to the risk buffering model,the strength of the relationship between risk factors and outcomes will depend on the presence of protective factors that buffer the relationship between risk and outcome.Self-control is divided into trait and state,at the trait level,a more stable trait and a personal competence,and at the state level,a state in which the individual enters a state of resource scarcity after his or her self-control resources have been depleted.It has been demonstrated that when individuals are in a state of high self-control,their working memory capacity is significantly reduced.In addition,it has been found that trait self-control can play a role in inhibiting the unhealthy eating behaviors of university students induced by state boredom,indirectly confirming the protective effect of trait self-control.Direct empirical studies on the relationship between state boredom,self-control and working memory are scarce,and most of the previous studies on state boredom and self-control have used scales,lacking causal studies on state boredom on self-control and causal explanations for state boredom on working memory.In view of this,the present study uses the risk buffer model as a guide to systematically explore the effects of state boredom on working memory,the role of the two types of self-control in the relationship between state boredom and working memory,and the possible mechanisms of action.In this study,university students were selected as the research subjects,and a combination of questionnaire survey method and experimental method was used to examine the influence of state boredom and self-control on working memory,and there were three studies.Study 1 used the questionnaire method and collected a total of 430 valid questionnaires to measure the correlation between state boredom,trait self-control and working memory in the daily life of university students,and to analyses the possible role of trait self-control in the relationship between state boredom and working memory.The main objective of Study 2 was to verify the effect of state boredom on working memory.Study 2 selected 45 subjects and used a square prediction task to induce different levels of state boredom in each subject to explore the effects of different levels of state boredom on individual verbal and spatial working memory.The main purpose of Study 3 was to further validate the role of self-control in the effects of state boredom on working memory,based on the results of Study 1.Study 3 selected 120 subjects to explore the effects of state boredom and self-control resources on verbal and spatial working memory using a square prediction task,a Stroop task and a 2-back verbal and spatial working memory task,respectively.The results of the study showed that:(1)college students’ state boredom was at an intermediate level,with significant differences between grades and no significant differences between genders;state boredom was significantly negatively related to working memory,state boredom was significantly negatively related to trait self-control,and trait self-control was significantly positively related to working memory;and trait self-control played a significant moderating role in the relationship between state boredom and working memory.Study 1 suggests that trait self-control plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between state boredom and working memory in daily life.(2)State boredom had a significant effect on verbal working memory response time and correctness;state boredom had a significant effect on spatial working memory correctness and a non-significant effect on its response time.Study 2 illustrates that state boredom affects the processing efficacy of individuals’ verbal working memory;there are differences in the processing efficacy of state boredom on individuals’ spatial working memory.(3)There was a significant difference between state boredom on verbal working memory correctness and a non-significant difference on reaction time;a significant difference between state boredom on spatial working memory correctness and reaction time;a significant difference between self-control resources on verbal working memory correctness and a non-significant difference on reaction time;a significant difference between self-control resources on spatial working memory correctness and reaction time;and a significant difference between state boredom and self-control resources on verbal There was no interaction between the effects of state boredom and self-control resources on verbal working memory correctness and reaction time;and there was an interaction between state boredom and self-control resources on spatial working memory correctness and reaction time.Study 3 suggests a moderating role for self-control resources in the relationship between state boredom and spatial working memory.From these three studies,we can see that the level of state boredom is higher among university students compared to previous studies,and that self-control plays a key role in the relationship between state boredom and working memory;adequate selfcontrol resources can modify the effect of state boredom on working memory to a certain extent.This study has implications for exploring the effects of state boredom on individuals’ working memory processing,and for reducing state boredom,thereby improving individuals’ memory,and thus their academic performance and working effectiveness.