To think that someone who gets bored easily does not have the ability to entertain himself or suffers from a lack of creativity is a mistake, what we do know today is that, according to many researches, there is a relationship between intelligence and boredom. In fact, high intellectual levels indicate a better ability to handle boredom.
When we talk about children, there are certain attitudes of parents that can tire them, oppress them and even saturate them, for example, the general tendency we see to think that the most extracurricular activities are present in the child’s schedule (language classes, sports activities?), the more they will learn and the better their chances in the future is a big mistake.
- In this sense.
- Ideally.
- The amount of stimuli a child receives is not less than a certain level.
- It is also true that at best the culture of multiple emotional and personal relationships is included.
- However.
- Having too many activities can lead to an overstimulation that is not at all healthy.
As a result, many parents’ efforts to keep their children constantly busy become counterproductive and against their interests. In some cases, it is necessary to hear the children say “I am bored!”, because that is when creative and artistic skills are used, stimulated and created. They have to face this void of ‘and now what should I do’.
There are tasks that we love very much because they give us great satisfaction, on the other hand, when we complete or repeat them very often, we can get to the point of feeling an inner void, the desire to change and do something different.
If this is coincidental, this feeling is a sign of our body that alerts us to a decrease in our motivation, for example, it can be a sign associated with a decrease in our interest in the work we do, but this feeling does not tend to paralyze us, quite the opposite, this should encourage us to look for other activities that make us more fun and add value.
The relationship between intelligence and boredom has been investigated in the Journal of Health Psychology, its results show that people with a high IQ are less bored, the cause would be that they spend much of their time concentrating on their thoughts, which That keeps them motivated, entertained and stimulated.
On the contrary, according to the same study, people who do not have those same skills need more activities that, in some way, attract their attention to be able to follow their days and stimulate their mind. For example, among them are activities related to sports, be careful, this does not mean that very intelligent people have no interest in going out, socializing or doing physical activities.
We also find another search that follows the same line, in this case carried out by two institutions, Singapore Management University and London School of Economics and Political Science. This other study found that smarter people prefer to spend their hours achieving their goals. goals rather than socializing with others. Funny, isn’t it?
In the case of gifted children, the above situation is the opposite, young children with a high learning capacity tend to get very bored if they do not take special courses adapted to their educational needs.
The cognitive development of these children is higher than the average of their peers of the same age, so if the pace of course delivery is lower than they need to stay stimulated there is boredom and demotivation.
That’s why the attitude of these children in the classroom is continuous recreation and they have great ease to be distracted, do not pay attention, do not do their homework and have no motivation before, during or after going to school. They are often very critical of their teachers and tend to have poor academic performance.
As we can see, intelligence and boredom have an intimate relationship, but it should also be noted that not all children act the same way or get bored in the same way, of course there are very capable children who are generally not tired of school, as well as many children who have a lower than normal level of intellectual development are easily bored. Every child is one and, in fact, the existence of so many individual differences is incredible.
Boredom in children with elevated abilities can have a serious impact on their physical and mental health, even leading to major social, behavioral and cognitive disorders, such as serious difficulties in adapting and integrating with the same age group and feelings of frustration and helplessness that, over the years, leads to feelings of incompetence and anxiety.
These changes can be compounded if child professionals confuse boredom caused by their high intelligence with other disorders and pathologies, such as ADHD, which also causes the same lack of concentration in the classroom, or with learning problems or personality changes.
In adults, if boredom is extreme and happens very often, it can also cause serious problems. As James Danckert, one of the leading experts in the field, points out, if we get bored in these terms, we will be more likely to develop depression, anxiety and compulsive behaviors. In addition, it can cause obsessive-compulsive disorder or different types of somatization, as it has a powerful negative effect on physical and psychological health.
However, getting bored from time to time can also be good for your health. Sometimes, when we are saturated with the rhythm of daily life, we lose those “do nothing” moments. These are times to dedicate ourselves, and practical liberar. de at once in a while, we have the opportunity to pay attention to our inner thoughts, which at worst always have something to tell us.