Boring people are also perceived to be incompetent
The most boring person in the world has apparently been identified, through a peer-reviewed study, that also found that people that aren't very interesting are also perceived to be "incompetent".
According to the University of Essex, the unfortunate person is a data analyst, who is religious, lives in a town, and enjoys watching a bit of telly.
Researchers, who gathered the views of more than 500 people, 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.
Boring people were perceived to shun large settlements to live in small cities and towns, the study concluded, and the dullest people were more likely to be avoided and perceived as incompetent.
The study also found that watching TV, sleeping, and having an interest in maths are among the most boring hobbies.
Meanwhile, the most exciting professions 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."
Tilburg said these so-called 'boring people' "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 ostracisation and increase loneliness leading to a really negative impact on their lives," he said, adding that 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," Tilburg said.
“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 was as follows:
The top five most boring jobs
1) Data Analysis
2) Accounting
3) Tax/insurance
4) Cleaning
5) Banking
The top five most exciting jobs
1) Performing arts
2) Science
3) Journalism
4) Health professional
5) Teaching
The top five most boring hobbies
1) Sleeping
2) Religion
3) Watching TV
4) Observing animals
5) Mathematics
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