Could you be the most boring category of person in the world? It's time to find out.

TikTok star Charli D'Amelio yawns during an NCAA college basketball game between Connecticut and Seton Hall, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022.
TikTok star Charli D'Amelio yawns during an NCAA college basketball game between Connecticut and Seton Hall, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. Copyright Jessica Hill/AP
By Jez Fielder
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According to the new study by The University of Essex, the dullest hobbies were deemed to be religion, watching TV, bird watching and smoking.

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Are you a religious data entry worker, who likes watching TV, and lives in a town?

In that case, according to a new study by the University of Essex, you have qualified for the unfortunate title of the most boring type of person in the world!

After examining more than 500 people across five experiments, researchers found the blandest jobs are seen as data analysis, accounting, cleaning, and banking.

This study into the science of tedium was first published in the academic journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

The paper draws a number of conclusions.

The dullest hobbies were deemed to be religion, watching TV, birdwatching, and smoking.

In terms of where such 'boring' people live, they have been found to shun large settlements and instead live in smaller cities and towns.

The top five most boring jobs

1. Data Analysis

2. Accounting

3. Tax/insurance

4. Cleaning

5. Banking

The top five most boring hobbies

1. Sleeping

2. Religion

3. Watching TV

4. Observing animals

5. Mathematics

"Unfortunately, some people are perceived as boring. Despite the potential relevance that these perceptions might have in everyday life, the underlying psychological processes and consequences of perceiving a person as “boring” have been largely unexplored," wrote the Department of Psychology’s Dr Wijnand Van Tilburg, who led the experiment.

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He launched the study to explore the stigma of perceived boredom and how it can impact perceptions.

He said: “The irony is studying boredom is actually very interesting and has many real-life impacts.

“Perceptions can change but people may not take time to speak to those with ‘boring’ jobs and hobbies, instead choosing to avoid them. They 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 ostracization and increase loneliness leading to a really negative impact on their lives.”

The study also showed that being perceived as boring likely conveys low competence and low interpersonal warmth.

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Those perceived as boring may thus be at greater risk of harm, addiction and mental health issues.

And despite the negative perception society needs people to perform roles such as accounting and banking.

“It was interesting to me to see the study showed that boring people were not seen as competent,” said Van Tilburg.

“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.

The top five most exciting jobs

1. Performing arts

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2. Science

3. Journalism

4. Health professional

5. Teaching

“The truth of the matter is," acknowledges Van Tilburg, "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!”

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