Executive function and boredom in Japanese monolingual, Chinese monolingual, and Japanese-Chinese bilingual children

This study examined the relationship between executive function (EF) and boredom-related variables among lower-grade elementary school students, as well as potential differences in these relationships among Japanese (JP) monolingual, Chinese (CH) monolingual, and bilingual children.

A total of 89 first- and second-grade students participated, including 31 JP monolinguals, 32 CH monolinguals, and 26 JP-CH bilinguals. Participants completed nonverbal and verbal EF tasks, after which their parents assessed their levels of boredom during the tasks, as well as their daily boredom proneness and ease of concentration.

Lower cognitive flexibility was associated with higher daily boredom proneness, regardless of demographic attributes. Among JP monolingual and bilingual children, although the multiple regression model predicting concentration was only marginally significant, girls and those with higher scores on the Japanese word reversal task, an indicator of working memory, tended to show greater ease of daily concentration. Boys were also found to be more prone to boredom during tasks.

These findings suggest that students' EF abilities, particularly cognitive flexibility and, to a lesser extent, working memory, are more strongly related to daily dispositional tendencies toward boredom and concentration than to temporary boredom experienced during activities.