Men prefer electric shocks to boredom

[Super Nova]

When I'm bored I really hate it.

Now I think I would be up for a good shock every now and then.

Men prefer electric shocks to boredom

Hell is other people, the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre wrote, but for many the prospect of being left to their own thoughts is even more unappealing, scientists have found.

Men, in particular, so disliked having nothing to do that two thirds of males in an experiment gave themselves an electric shock.

The authors of the paper concluded that the human brain had evolved such a strong instinct for being active that the majority of people struggled to switch off, even for a short period.

“Simply being alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes was apparently so aversive that it drove many participants to self-administer an electric shock,” said Professor Tim Wilson, who led the research at the University of Virginia.

Others put the findings down to the widespread use of smartphones and social media, which keep some people occupied during times that might previously have been spent in idle thought.

“We’re creating a world where daydreaming isn’t so important,” said Jonathan Smallwood, a neuroscientist at the University of York. “During the industrial revolution . . . people had a lot of time for thinking. Now, even if you have a mundane job, you can probably be on the phone while you’re doing it.”

In a series of 11 experiments, published today in the journal Science, participants were asked to sit alone for between six and 15 minutes in an unadorned room at a laboratory with no mobile phone, reading materials or writing implements. Afterwards, most people reported that they did not enjoy the experience.

A similar result was found in further studies when the participants spent time alone in their homes. “About a third admitted they had cheated at home by engaging in some activity, such as listening to music or using a mobile phone, or leaving their chair,” Professor Wilson said.

In a final experiment, the scientists found that many participants opted to give themselves a mild electric shock, which they had previously said they would pay to avoid after having experienced it once. Out of 18 men, 12 gave themselves at least one shock during the study’s 15-minute “thinking” period, compared with six out of 24 women. One man had 190 shocks.

The authors said the findings showed that men tended to be more “sensation seeking” than women. One explanation for people’s aversion to being left alone with their thoughts is that they focus on their own shortcomings and “get caught in ruminative thought cycles”, the paper concludes.

However, Richard Wiseman, professor of the public understanding of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, said: “If you stick someone in a room, they’re just bored, which is different to daydreaming.”

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/science/a ... 137934.ece

[freediver]

I have no problem being alone with my thoughts, but would have probably tried the electric shock just to see what happens. If there were half a dozen other guys and a beer fridge in the room you'd probably find more electric shocks, not less.

I give this experiment a fail.