How University Students Cope with Class-related Boredom: A Profile Analysis

Abstract

Studies have demonstrated that boredom hinders students' academic performance. Scholars and educators have started exploring how students cope with boredom. Recent studies have revealed that students' coping styles are influenced by culture; however, research conducted using culturally sensitive measurement tools remains extremely scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to adopt a person-centered data analysis approach by examining university students' strategies for coping with class-related boredom using a culturally sensitive scale. In the latent profile analysis, 1013 Turkish students were classified into four groups who used different combination of coping strategies: BEAV-AS oriented evaders, BEAV-SS oriented evaders, Reappraisers and BEAV-AS oriented mixed copers. While the Reappraisers align with previous findings, the other three profiles represent novel contributions. In earlier studies, the profile characterized by the intensive use of behavioral avoidance (BEAV) and cognitive avoidance (COAV) strategies was identified as a single profile, referred to as evaders. However, in this study, distinct profiles emerged based on the type of stimulus (simple vs. activating): BEAV-AS-oriented evaders and BEAV-SS-oriented evaders. The BEAV-AS-oriented mixed copers profile consists of students who frequently employ all coping strategies, including cognitive approaches. Additionally, to obtain a more profound understanding of the emerging boredom coping profiles, these profiles were examined for prospective predictors (e.g., boredom proneness, age, gender) and distal outcomes (e.g., GPA, class-related boredom).