摘要：
    英国心理学家最近指出，小孩子出现厌烦情绪不一定是件坏事，相反还可能有助于提高他们下次活动时的行动力。他们还建议父母们不必千方百计安排活动调动孩子的情绪，因为厌烦是在所难免的，正如尼采说的“与厌烦对抗，即使上帝自己也会徒劳无功”。
    It was Friedrich Nietzsche who wrote "Against boredom the gods themselves fight in vain". Although the musings of the German philosopher will certainly be lost on the millions of schoolchildren over the Easter holiday, their parents can find comfort in his words as they struggle to keep their kids entertained for a fortnight.
    英国心理学家最近指出，小孩子出现厌烦情绪不一定是件坏事，相反还可能有助于提高他们下次活动时的行动力。他们还建议父母们不必千方百计安排活动调动孩子的情绪，因为厌烦是在所难免的，正如尼采说的“与厌烦对抗，即使上帝自己也会徒劳无功”。

    据《卫报》网站4月13日报道，英国兰开夏州Edge Hill学院的心理学讲师理查德·莱利博士说，厌烦情绪不是一件坏事，它是一种自然发生的、不可压抑的情绪。他说：“厌烦可以是一件好事情。在心理学中，我们认为情绪都有其功能。恐惧、愤怒和嫉妒均有自己的作用，但却被冠以不好的名声，尽管它们的存在都是有原因的。厌烦也一样没有好名声。”

    莱利说：“我们感到厌烦是因为无事可作时变得烦躁，这时就有一种行动的需要。厌烦并不是厌世，它可以很有用。当没有东西回报我们时，我们节省自己的能量，只有这样，当我们想再次投入时，才能够做得到。在‘做有回报的事’和‘做有回报的事却不高兴’之间需要有一种平衡。”

    莱利建议父母们，让孩子按自己的情绪轨道发展，“假期到来，父母们不必牺牲大量的空余时间，准备丰富多彩的娱乐项目来犒劳孩子。相反，让孩子们参与一些大人做的事，启发他们做些有挑战性的事情，往往就能找到更好的应对厌烦情绪的方法”。

    It was Friedrich Nietzsche who wrote "Against boredom the gods themselves fight in vain".

    Although the musings of the German philosopher will certainly be lost on the millions of schoolchildren over the Easter holiday, their parents can find comfort in his words as they struggle to keep their kids entertained for a fortnight.

    An academic has set out to prove that boredom - far from being a bad thing - is a naturally occurring emotion that should not be suppressed. Dr Richard Ralley, a psychology lecturer at Edge Hill College in Ormskirk, Lancashire, has embarked on a study of boredom.

    He said: "Boredom can be a good thing. In psychology we think of emotions as being functional. Fear, anger and jealousy all serve a purpose but they're painted in a bad light even though they exist for a reason. It's the same with boredom, which also has a bad name.

    "We get bored because we get fed up when we have nothing to do and feel the need to be productive. We feel bad when we're not productive and that's what boredom is associated with.

    "Boredom is something, it's not just switching off. It can be useful. When there's nothing rewarding going on we conserve energy, so that when we want to re-engage we can. There's a balance between doing something that's rewarding and doing something that's rewarding but not being happy about doing it.

    "It may be better to leave children to their own devices and let them recover from their last term at school."

    Dr Ralley, 35, thought of the study, titled Boredom, in 1999 but has only recently started collecting case studies. To date, he has received information from more than 300 young adults who have written about boredom. He hopes to present his findings in the summer.

    "Come the holidays, parents overcompensate for kids having so much free time by overwhelming them with activities.

    "Instead get them involved with something you're doing. You can manipulate boredom in a way that can get them to do something challenging. Boredom is natural, so let's deal with it."

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