Horizon of Medical Education Development

Horizon of Medical Education Development

Teacher Humor and Enthusiasm as Predictors of Academic Boredom in Medical Education

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Majid Sadoughi 1
Najmeh Eskandari 2
1 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran
2 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kashan, Kashan,Iran
10.22038/hmed.2025.84705.1454
Abstract
Introduction:Academic boredom is a significant challenge in education that negatively affects students' enthusiasm and academic performance, particularly in medical education. Certain teacher characteristics may serve as protective factors against boredom in students. This study aimed to predict academic boredom based on teacher enthusiasm and humor among medical students.
Method: This cross-sectional study targeted all medical students at Kashan University of Medical Sciences during the academic year 2024–2025. A total of 435 students were selected through stratified random sampling. Participants responded to Keller et al’s teacher enthusiasm, Biggs & Dursell’s teacher humor, Pekrun et al’s academic boredom, Li et al’s trait boredom scales, and demographic questions. The data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis with SPSS-24 software.
Results:Multiple regression analysis showed that after controlling for the effects of age, gender, and trait boredom, perceived teacher enthusiasm (ß = −0.29, p ≤ 0.001) and class-related humor (ß = −0.38, p ≤ 0.01) negatively predicted academic boredom, while aggressive humor (ß = 0.15, p ≤ 0.01) positively predicted academic boredom. Together, these variables explained 35.3% of the variance in academic boredom among students.
Conclusion: Based on the findings, it is recommended that teachers express enthusiasm and incorporate humor in their teaching to create a more engaging and supportive learning environment. This approach could help foster student motivation, reduce boredom, and promote a more positive academic experience

Acknowledgments: We sincerely thank all the students at Kashan University of Medical Sciences who cooperated in this research.

Availability of data and materials: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.


Consent for publication: Not applicable.

Ethical approval and consent to participate: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Kashan University of Medical Sciences (Ethical Code: IR.KAUMS.REC.1403.007). All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study, and they were assured of the confidentiality of their responses.The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Funding: This research was conducted with the personal expenses of the authors and received no financial support from any institution or funding agency.

Authors’ Contributions: M.S. contributed to the conceptualization, study design, data analysis, critical revision, and final approval of the manuscript. N.E. contributed to data collection, processing, and writing the original draft. All authors reviewed and approved the final version and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Open Access Policy: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. To view a copy of this licence, visit.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Keywords
Academic boredom
Enthusiasm Humor Medical students
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Horizon of Medical Education Development
Volume 17, Issue 2
Spring 2026
Pages 107-120