Is Boredom Behind “Out of Control” Sexual Behavior?

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Over the years, a number of possible causes and triggers of “hypersexual” or “out of control” sexual behavior have been proposed. One of the many factors under consideration is feelings of boredom.

Boredom is a negative psychological mood state that occurs when we don’t perceive our environment as being stimulating enough. Boredom is, of course, subjective because two people can experience the same environment in very different ways. What is stimulating to one person may be boring to another.

Some people may be more easily predisposed to boredom. For example, people high in sensation-seeking tendencies may get bored easily due to their heightened need for novelty and excitement. Also, people feeling depressed or lonely might report feelings of boredom stemming from those negative emotional states.

At the same time, there’s a feedback loop: While sensation-seeking tendencies, depression, and loneliness might lead to feelings of boredom, feeling bored in and of itself could trigger all of these things.

Regardless of the reason, when people feel bored, they often seek out ways of relieving that negative mood state. And turning to sex might be one such coping strategy.

Is There a Scientific Link Between Boredom and Hypersexuality?

In a paper published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, researchers scoured the literature for existing studies reporting links between boredom and hypersexuality.

“Hypersexuality” is a controversial construct that different people define in different ways, with some characterizing it as “sexual addiction,” sexual compulsivity, or sexual impulsivity. However, a common thread running through all of these definitions is the idea that hypersexuality involves high levels of sexual behavior that one feels are “out of control.”

Researchers identified 19 studies examining the potential link between boredom and hypersexuality. Of them, 15 established an association, while just four did not. Thus, the weight of the evidence suggests that hypersexual people do tend to report more feelings of boredom.

For example, one study (based primarily on heterosexually identified men) found that 71 percent of participants reported that they “use online sexual activities to manage boredom.” Likewise, in a study of men who have sex with men, researchers found that using sex to cope with boredom, stress, and/or concentration issues was the strongest predictor of hypersexual behavior.

In addition, several case studies that involved qualitative interviews found that people often pointed to boredom and having time on their hands as causes of their sexual urges and desires.

One study also found that, in both men and women, being prone to boredom was a predictor of higher levels of masturbation.

It wasn’t just general feelings of boredom that were linked to hypersexuality, though. Feelings of sexual boredom specifically also predicted hypersexuality. This suggests that having a routine and predictable sex life is another aspect of boredom that could prompt more sex-seeking behavior.

What We Still Don’t Know

There are some important limitations of the existing research. One is that most studies focused on male participants only, so our understanding of how this link might vary based on gender is somewhat limited.

Another issue is that all of these studies are correlational, which creates issues when it comes to inferring cause and effect. Is it the case that boredom triggers hypersexual behavior, or does hypersexual behavior potentially lead to feelings of boredom, perhaps through a process of habituation to repeated sexual stimulation?

Longitudinal studies could help distinguish between these explanations.

Of course, there’s also a potential third-variable explanation. Perhaps something else (e.g., sensation-seeking tendencies, mood disorders, emotional regulation problems) underlies both boredom and hypersexuality, and maybe that’s what’s really fueling the association.

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Takeaways

While we must await the results of further studies, the weight of the current evidence does seem to indicate a fairly reliable link between boredom and hypersexuality, which suggests the possibility that hypersexuality may often stem, in part, from feelings of boredom.

That possibility could have important implications for clinical treatment of hypersexual behavior, something many have referred to by the controversial term “sex addiction” (which is not a formal diagnostic category in the DSM).

Effectively treating people who are distressed about their “out of control” sexual behaviors requires a thorough understanding of the underlying cause(s). Many current treatment approaches view sex itself as the problem; however, a growing amount of research (including the work on boredom discussed here) points to sexual behavior as the symptom.

Consistent with this idea, many sex researchers and therapists have found that patients presenting with “out of control” sexual behavior often have underlying moral conflicts surrounding sex as well as mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.

If sexual behavior is serving as a way to cope with boredom, depression, anxiety, or other difficulties, focusing exclusively on the behavior may miss an important part of the problem.

Developing better treatments means paying more attention to what is driving the behavior—whether that is boredom, moral conflict, a mood disorder, or something else—rather than assuming sex itself is the problem.