The most boring person in the world is a data analyst who is religious, likes watching TV and lives in a town, a peer-reviewed study found. Researchers have revealed society's dullest jobs and hobbies - as well as those deemed the most exciting.
Lucrative professions are seen to be among the most mundane - with data analysis, accounting, insurance, and banking topping the list, according to the study. It also found that watching TV and having an interest in maths are among the dullest hobbies.
Boring people were perceived to shun large settlements to live in small cities and towns. The survey by the University of Essex, which gathered the views of more than 500 people, found that dull individuals were more likely to be avoided and perceived as incompetent.
Meanwhile, the most exciting professions in society were deemed to be performing arts, science, journalism, healthcare and teaching. Lead psychology researcher Dr Wijnand Van Tilburg said: “This paper shows how persuasive perceptions of boredom are and what an impact this can have on people.
“Perceptions can change but people may not take time to speak to those with ‘boring’ jobs and hobbies, instead choosing to avoid them. They don’t get a chance to prove people wrong and break these negative stereotypes.
“The very fact that people choose to avoid them can lead to social ostracization and increase loneliness leading to a really negative impact on their lives.” He added: “It was interesting to me to see the study showed that boring people were not seen as competent.
“I would have thought that accountants would be seen as boring, but effective and the perfect person to do a good job on your tax return.
The truth of the matter is people like bankers and accountants are highly capable and have power in society - perhaps we should try not to upset them and stereotype them as boring!” The full list of findings are below
The top five most boring jobs
- Data Analysis
- Accounting
- Tax/insurance
- Cleaning
- Banking
The top five most exciting jobs
- Performing arts
- Science
- Journalism
- Health professional
- Teaching
The top five most boring hobbies
- Sleeping
- Religion
- Watching TV
- Observing animals
- Mathematics
