If you're scared of being boring, scientists have a list of things handy that you should avoid

In a world wrought with an endless cycle of news — the exciting, the devastating, the sweet and the shocking — it's understandable to seek a reprieve.

But relaxation doesn't mean boredom, and for some, spending time with a boring person is the ultimate punishment.

Being 'boring' may be something people try to avoid, and thanks to a new study's tangible evidence of the characteristics of insipidness, it's easier to achieve than before.

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Authors Wijnand van Tilburg, Eric Igou and Mehr Panjwani surveyed over 500 people across five studies in order to rank characteristics, jobs and hobbies that are the most stereotypically boring. Participants were mainly from the United States.

"These results suggest that being stereotyped as a bore may come with substantially negative interpersonal consequences," the team writes in their paper, which is titled 'Boring People: Stereotype Characteristics, Interpersonal Attributions, and Social Reactions.'

The first two studies included 463 people who were asked to write down a multitude of boring features and rank them in order of dullness.

The five most boring hobbies, according to the volunteers, are sleeping, religion, watching television, observing animals and doing mathematics.

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When it comes to jobs, data analysis, accounting, tax and/or insurance, cleaning and banking are considered completely uninteresting.

Stereotypical bores, according to those surveyed, have no interests, are unopinionated, have no sense of humour and complain often.

"The more typical the features of stereotypical boringness described a person, the more the person was perceived as boring," the study says.

"Furthermore, and important for the social consequences of such perception, stereotypical boringness affected perceptions of interpersonal warmth and competence."

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In the following two studies the team completed, it was found that people who display 'boring' characteristics — such as seeming "uneducated" or having a "monotonous voice" — are seen as lacking competence and warmth, and as a result, are generally avoided in social situations.

The final study asked participants how much money it would take for them to spend time with a 'boring' person, many named significant sums.

"Perceptions can change, but people may not take time to speak to those with 'boring' jobs and hobbies, instead choosing to avoid them," Van Tilburg wrote.

"They don't get a chance to prove people wrong and break these negative stereotypes."

The investigative team also questioned why stereotypical bores were seen as incompetent, considering those two characteristics are not necessarily related.

"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," Van Tilburg wrote.

"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!"