Goofing off

Goofing off is engaging in recreation or an idle pastime while obligations of work or society are neglected. Common obligations neglected in the course of goofing off include schoolwork, paid employment, social courtesies and the expectations of relations.

chool

Goofing off at school is considered to be an adaptive behaviour. [citation|title=The Nature of "Goofing Off" among Junior High School Adolescents|author=Robert Everhart|journal=Adolescence|volume=17|issue=65|pages=177-88|date=Spring 1982|url=http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ262892&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ262892] If this occurs within the classroom, teachers can resolve the matter quickly by direct confrontation. [citation|url=https://www-s.ed.uiuc.edu/ed-online/cter/courses/edpsy399ol/course_docs/lessn_suppl/sample-paper/Classroom_Management.pdf|title=Classroom Management and Conflict Resolution: From "Goofing Off" to Violence in the Classroom|author=John P. Fields]

Work

Employers may use wage premiums to discourage goofing off by their employees. It is suggested that the effects of such incentives causes aging to have a negative effect upon earnings sooner than would be otherwise expected. [citation|title=Goofing off, Aging and Earnings|author=Kenneth V. Greene|journal=Southern Economic Journal|volum=46|issue=2|date=Oct 1979|pages=623-627|publisher=Southern Economic Association|url=http://www.jstor.org/pss/1057434]

ex differences

Some research indicates that women tend to feel more guilt than men about taking time for themselves and so use breaks to become more organized. [citation|title=“Take Five:” Simplify|author=Cynthia R. Shuster|url=http://ohioline.osu.edu/flm01/pdf/FS22.pdf|publisher=Ohio State University|year=2001]

Benefits

Goofing off may be a form of creativity and experimentation, providing useful learning experiences and discoveries. [citation|title=The Gift of ADHD|ISBN=1572243899|author=Lara Honos-Webb|pages=105|year=2005|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xIVyVMZJEs0C]

Examples

*Perhaps the most famous example of goofing off is the tale reported by Suetonius of Nero fiddling while Rome burned. Although commonly retold, it is untrue. [ [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#38 "The Lives of Twelve Caesars", Life of Nero] ] [ [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/journals/CJ/42/4/Nero_Fiddled*.html "Nero Fiddled while Rome Burned"] , "The Classical Journal" (1948), p. 211-217 ]
*In October 2007, two Cincinnati police officers were "suspended as a result of the investigation into allegations of goofing off." [ [http://news.nky.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20071019/NEWS01/710190424 Cops named in allegations of goofing off] ; by Kimball Perry; The Cincinnati Enquirer; 19 Oct 2007.]
*In May 2008, the ABC news affiliate in San Francisco revealed that some "government workers goof off on Wikipedia." [ [http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=6140902 Government workers goof off on Wikipedia] , KGO Channel 7, ABC News, San Francisco; 13 May 2008.]

ee also

* Slacking
* Sloth
* Truancy

References

External links

* [http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-19950701-000020.html Goofing Off] ; by Paul Roberts; Psychology Today; Jul/Aug 1995.
* [http://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2007/11/gps_devices_catch_workers_goof_1.html GPS Devices Catch Workers Goofing Off] ; NPR; 16 Nov 2007.
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/18/tech/main681657.shtml Goofing Off In The Computer Age: Some Employers Crack Down On Use Of Company Computers] ; by Patrik Jonsson; CBS News; 18 Mar 2005.
* [http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/columnists/jones/jones001.shtml More Time on Task, Less Goofing Off] ; by Fred Jones, Ph.D; Education World; 18 Aug 2003.
* [http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,118939-page,1-c,funandgames/article.html Home Office: Need Help Goofing Off? Dopey videos, weird pictures, and giant bugs] . By Steve Bass; PC World; 29 Dec 2004.