Negative boredom–interest factor correlations grew stronger over the four waves, indicating increasing divergence during secondary school¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 Within two-factor models, the negative correlation between boredom and interest increased from r = −0.67/−0.70 at T1 to r = −0.87/−0.90 at T4. → Katharina Luisa Boehme 2025

Evidence¶

Katharina Luisa Boehme 2025¶

Katharina Luisa Boehme, Thomas Goetz, Markus Feuchter, Franzis Preckel. (2025). Is Boredom the Opposite of Interest? A Longitudinal Reciprocal Effect Study. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-09991-5

q3 · i3 · associational · r2

Factor correlations from the CFA models at each wave, with printed correlations r = −0.67 to −0.87 (mathematics) and r = −0.70 to −0.90 (German), large effects whose magnitude grows over time. The authors interpret this via the differential distinctiveness hypothesis, stating the constructs "increasingly diverge in their extent of oppositeness during secondary school" while their statistical dependency increases.

"Within the two-factor models, negative correlations between boredom and interest increased over the four waves of measurement (mathematics: rt1 = − 0.67 to rt4 = − 0.87; German: rt1 = − 0.70 to rt4 = − 0.90)"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Latent boredom means increased and latent interest means declined from grade 5 to grade 8 in both domains — related
• Boredom and academic interest fit two separate correlated factors better than one common factor in mathematics and German at every wave — related
• Higher earlier interest is associated with later decreases in boredom across grades 5–8, at every wave in mathematics and all but the last in German — related