THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL STATE BOREDOM SCALE (MSBS).

INSTRUCTIONS.

Please respond to each question indicating how you feel right now about yourself and your life, even if it is different from how you usually feel.

Use the following choices:

1 = Strongly disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 =Somewhat disagree; 4 = Neutral; 5 = Somewhat agree; 6 =Agree; and 7 = Strongly agree.

QUESTIONNAIRE:

1. Time is passing by slower than usual.
2. I am stuck in a situation that I feel is irrelevant.
3. I am easily distracted.
4. I am lonely.
5. Everything seems to be irritating me right now.
6. I wish time would go by faster.
7. Everything seems repetitive and routine to me.
8. I feel down.
9. I seem to be forced to do things that have no value to me.
10. I feel bored.
11. Time is dragging on.
12. I am more moody than usual.
13. I am indecisive or unsure of what to do next.
14. I feel agitated.
15. I feel empty.
16. It is difficult to focus my attention.
17. I want to do something fun, but nothing appeals to me.
18. Time is moving very slowly.
19. I wish I was doing something more exciting.
20. My attention span is shorter than usual.
21. I am impatient right now.
22. I am wasting time that would be better spent on something else.
23. My mind is wandering.
24. I want something to happen but I’m not sure what.
25. I feel cut off from the rest of the world.
26. Right now it seems like time is passing slowly.
27. I am annoyed with the people around me.
28. I feel like I’m sitting around waiting for something to happen.
29. It seems like there’s no one around for me to talk to.

SCORING:

MSBS Total Score: sum of all 29 items. A high score generally indicates a high state of boredom (keep in mind that this scale measures your level of boredom at the time you are taking it. Results are not to be generalized).

You can break it down by looking at your score in each subscale, which represent the five dimensions of boredom:

Disengagement subscale: how much uninterested in things you are right now: Items 2, 7, 9, 10, 13, 17, 19, 22, 24, 28

High Arousal Negative affect subscale: how much anger and frustration you are experiencing right now: Items 5, 12, 14, 21, 27

Inattention subscale: how much lack of focus you have: Items 3, 16, 20, 23

Low Arousal Negative Affect subscale: how depressed you are feeling right now: Items 4, 8, 15, 25, 29

Time Perception subscale: how you are perceiving the flow of time (too slow, too fast): Items 1, 6, 11, 18, 26

Sources:

Fahlman, S., Mercer-Lynn, K., Flora, D. B., & Eastwood, J. D. (2013). Development and validation of the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale. Assessment, 20(1), 68-85. doi: 10.1177/1073191111421303