Just like an unexplored wilderness waiting to be discovered, boredom research has ventured into uncharted territory. What used to be dismissed as inconsequential has now emerged as a vital component of our mental and physical well-being, cognition, social connections, academic success, and professional performance. This burgeoning field has ignited a clamor for a unified definition of boredom. Previously rooted in philosophical concepts of finding purpose, boredom was associated with a dearth of meaning in our daily lives. Excitingly, this latest research signals a new era of understanding boredom’s impact and the importance of exploring its diverse dimensions.

Over the past few decades, there has been an expansion of boredom research [1]. What was once considered trivial has been shown to be critical for mental and physical health, cognitive functioning, social relationships, academic achievement, and workplace performance [2–17]. This surge in boredom research brings to the forefront the need for a cohesive definition of the experience. Past accounts grounded boredom in existentialist notions of meaning regulation, with feelings of boredom indicative of low situational meaning or a lack of life meaning [18–21].

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