If you scroll through videos to stop being bored, you might be making yourself more bored, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.

The study, which consisted of seven experiments and looked at the reactions of 1,200 Americans and University of Toronto students, found that skipping a video part of the way through or fast-forwarding makes people wearier.

“If people want a more enjoyable experience … they can try to stay focused on the content and minimize digital switching. Just like paying for a more immersive experience in a movie theater, more enjoyment comes from immersing oneself in online videos rather than swiping through them,” University of Toronto researcher Katy Tam said in an APA release Monday.

The study participants thought that clicking off a video midway would make them less bored. However, the people who were forced to watch one 10-minute video without the ability to fast-forward or skip reported being less bored than the participants allowed to switch among seven videos within a 10-minute span.

“We feel bored when there’s a gap between how engaged we are and how engaged we want to be. When people keep switching through videos, they become less engaged with the videos and they are looking for something more interesting,” Ms. Tam told The Guardian.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.