From sermons to silent retreats, study shows many people are bored by spiritual practice

[erronis]

https://phys.org/news/2025-03-sermons-silent-retreats-people-spiritual.html

(Hey, DU - where does this belong in your rigid hierarchical forum structure? I would think under "Psychology" but perhaps under "Religion". But it is more than either - it's about societal belonging. How about looking at an attributes/tags system?)

We commonly consider spiritual practices as sources of peace and inspiration. A recent study led by researchers at the University of Vienna shows that they can also be experienced differently: Many people feel bored during these practices—and this can have far-reaching consequences. The results, recently published in the journal Communications Psychology, open up an entirely new field of research and provide fascinating insights into a phenomenon that has received only scant attention so far.

Even though boredom is a heavily researched subject at the moment, spiritual boredom has so far been largely neglected in research. Psychologists at the University of Vienna and the University of Essex have now decided to address this "blind spot" and were surprised to find out that boredom frequently occurs during spiritual practice—and it can have a clear detrimental effect.

...

This first study on spiritual boredom has opened up a completely new field of research. The research team has made an important contribution to demonstrating the negative effects of boredom during spiritual practice.

[stoned]

1. My spiritual practice

is one of the least boring things about my life.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Anthropology seems appropriate. nt