Aggressive behavior, boredom, and protective factors among college students during closed-off management of the COVID-19 pandemic in China

BACKGROUND: Chinese colleges have implemented strict closed-off management in response to the outbreak of a new variant of the new coronavirus, Omicron. But such management measures may lead to more aggressive behavior. The study aimed to determine the associations between boredom and aggressive behavior with aggression and to examine the impact of boredom on aggression through the moderating role of cognitive flexibility. METHODS: The Multidimensional State Boredom Scale, the Reactive–Proactive Aggression Questionnaire, and the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory were applied to a sample of 719 college students who were in a closed-off management environment. RESULTS: For individuals with high cognitive flexibility, the relationship between state boredom and proactive aggression was not significant. The relationship between state boredom and proactive aggression was significantly positively correlated for individuals with low cognitive flexibility, especially low substitutability. Cognitive flexibility has no significant moderating effect on the relationship between state boredom and reactive aggression. CONCLUSION: The findings highlighted the importance of boredom as a potential risk factor for aggression, while cognitive flexibility appears as a potential protective factor.