A Research Into The Relation Between Boredom And Meaning Of Life Of College Students

This thesis, based on review of common boredom scales in other countries, aims to establish a boredom scale that fit college students in China, using open questionnaire and individual interview. The scale was used in the survey in which521students from Hohhot and Tianjin participated on college students’state of boredom. It also discusses the relation between the state of boredom and the meaning of life. Hence it proposes a theory on how to prevent and reduce boredom. These are the findings according to the research:(1) The Cronbach’s a coefficients in the self-compiled college students’ boredom scale are0.75-0.80, the Cronbach’s a coefficient in the overall scale is0.79, which means the scale is was well inter-consistent; An analysis into causes shows that the four dimensions are able to explain66.11%of the variance.(2) Single factor analysis of variance and hierarchical regression suggest that boredom felt by sophomores are more serious than that of juniors; college students in science and engineering majors are more bored than students in other majors; students who engages themselves in volunteer works are far less prone to boredom than those who don’t do volunteer works.(3) Single factor analysis of variance shows that there is great difference in all dimensions and total score (P<0.001) for students with different self-esteem. The F-value is between52.48～119.02. The check afterwards show that the higher students’ self-esteem, the less likely they will feel bored; the hierarchical regression shows that self-esteem is an effective negative indicator for student’s boredom;(3-value is between-0.22～-0.40(P<0.01～P<0.001).(4) The thesis aims to find out the meaning of life viewed by students with different places, individual background and different stages of boredom. The result suggests that the number of students who hold positive view of life in Tianjin is much greater than that in Hohhot. And scores of negative view of life by students in Tianjin is lower than that in Hohhot; Sophomore period is a critical period for view of life held by college students:for sophomores, their negative view of life tends to enhance while the positive view of life diminishes. Students who engage themselves in volunteer works score much higher than who don’t do any volunteer works, whereas the former get lower points than the latter as far as negative view of life concerned.(5) According to Pearson’s analysis, all dimensions in college students’ boredom are correlated to negative view of life (P<0.01-P<0.001), and they are negatively correlated to positive view of life(P<0.01～p<0.001); regression analysis further shows that the meaning of life felt by college students’is a useful indicator for boredom. Conclusion: (1) The self-drawn boredom scale includes absence from class, lack of motivation, lack of strength, and lack of emotion. The scale, as a reliable and effective measurement, has met the standard of psychometrics and can fairly reflect the state of boredom of college students.(2) Students from different grades and majors display a tremendous difference in the state of boredom. And doing volunteer work can prevent and reduce boredom.(3) Students with different level of self-esteem show different boredom. The higher self-esteem one has, the less likely one feels bored. Self-esteem is an negative indicator to the state of boredom.(4) College students’state of boredom is correlated to negative view of life,and it’s negatively correlated to positive view of life; the sense of meaning in life can also indicate boredom.