When Boredom Shifts Preferences Toward Virtues and Away from Vices

We ask how boredom can shift consumers’ preferences between virtues and vices. Boredom has been observed to lead to increased preferences for vices in particular (e.g., alcohol, snacks, gambling). Recent theorizing explains this by assuming that boredom results from attributing a diffuse aversive state and an inability to engage attention to the situation (what we label, situation-attributed boredom), thus resulting in a desire for a more stimulating environment (Eastwood et al. 2012). Accordingly, when we experimentally elicited such situation-attributed boredom, participants’ preference for a vice (vs. a virtue) increased. However, we theorized that boredom could also result from attributing the aversive state to the self (self-attributed boredom). Prompting such attributions had the opposite effect; participants’ preference for a virtue (vs. a vice) increased. Our evidence supports our hypothesis that self-attributed boredom elicits a need to restore a sense of purpose, which is better met by virtues than by vices.