Choosing and Coping with Boring Work

Abstract

This ethnographic study of industrial brewery work begins by examining why workers will sometimes choose boring jobs in preference to more stimulating work. Workers see boring work as a safe means of retreating from job situations in which responsibility exceeds control. In the absence of control, responsibility routinely leads to "hassles" and blame, outcomes many workers strongly seek to avoid. Having selected boring jobs, the workers must then develop mechanisms for coping with the boredom. These coping tactics provide the second focus of this article. The tactics involve mentally stimulating distractions that do not disturb the work activity. Such tactics include various forms of daydreaming, playing, singing, and talking. Use of these tactics reinforces workers' alienation from their work.