
Joseph R FerrariDePaul University · Department of Psychology
Joseph R Ferrari
MS, MA, PhD
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401
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Introduction
Skills and Expertise
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September 1994 - June 2016
September 1985 - June 1988
November 2002 - December 2002
Publications
Publications (401)
Chronic procrastination, which is increasingly prevalent in adult routines, may have implications for mental and physical health. Family dynamics significantly influence procrastination tendencies. This study investigates the influence of family functioning on chronic procrastination, focusing on the mediating role of self-efficacy. We examined the...
Procrastination is the deliberate, unjustified postponing of an intended course of action despite its costs or unfavorable effects. The present study used a self-report online survey and collected data from a large convenience sample of the general adult population (N = 2,076; females = 55.73%; Mage = 35.1 years [SD ± 12.7]) with diverse demographi...
Migrants experience significant stresses when transitioning to find a sense of belonging (Kirmaryer et. al 2011), particularly when migration is forced. Using a survey administered to migrants in Italy (n = 92, 59 women, 32 men; M age = 36.24 years old) the present study explored relationship between psychological home, neighborhood attachment, sen...
Many college students consider statistical courses as frightening and demanding, yielding high anxiety and low competence, and correlating with maladaptive academic behaviors and low achievement. With undergraduate students, the present pre‐post study compared a supportive online teaching program utilizing mandatory statistical exercises ( n = 37)...
Social zapping, defined as the cancelation of plans or appointments shortly before they are supposed to take place in order to attend plans deemed “better” than the original, has become increasingly prevalent. The present study examined potential behavioral trait predictors of social zapping, such as belongingness, self-esteem, sense of control, an...
During the 2019–2020 global pandemic, mandated time at home suggested engagement in personal projects, such as home decluttering. Clutter (an overabundance of possessions) may impede one’s quality of life by interfering with space livability and social connections and prompting negative affect and financial problems. The present study explored acti...
E‐waste, the overabundance of unused technology products, is a growing issue as new technology is rapidly innovated and our society promotes the need to always have the “latest and greatest” products. Community psychology, as a field, is concerned with the global climate crisis, and subsequently must be concerned with e‐waste. This study tested pre...
Background: The aim of this research was to examine the psychometrics of a short form version of the multidimensional Involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous scale (IAA-SF) by assessing the factor structure, internal consistency, and predictive validity. While there are several existing measures of involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous, many are either u...
This study examines consumers’ orientations toward decluttering and what differentiates consumers’ engagement with decluttering as a routine social practice. An internet survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 172 adult consumers who recently engaged in home decluttering projects. Cluster analysis used appraisals of personal project dimen...
Psychological home is an understudied concept within community psychology, especially focused on migrants. Previous literature on psychological home found a positive relationship with well-being and resilience in general populations and migrants. Studying psychological home in migrants may provide important tools to buffer various stresses associat...
Spiritually based interventions in the form of 12-step programs are frequently offered as a part of substance use treatment programs in the United States. Programs based on the 12 steps guarantee that by working their program, an individual will undergo a process of transformation labeled a spiritual awakening. However, the impact of this experienc...
Previous research found mixed results for clutter’s impact on individuals’ sense of home and subjective well-being in a variety of samples. In this retrospective cross-sectional study, archival data were utilized to examine the relationship between clutter, psychological home, and subjective well-being across two age categories, specifically older...
The relationship between different emotions with situational (e.g., academic) and dispositional (chronic) procrastination was examined extensively in the literature since the early days of procrastination research. A review of empirical studies over the past 40 years might shed light on the role of emotions in procrastination in different contexts...
A path analytic model assessed the relationship between academic procrastination and life satisfaction, such that family environment mediated effects with emerging adults (221 women, 101 men; Mage = 20.7 years old, SD = 1.7). Participants completed procrastination, family environment, and life satisfaction scales. Results showed that after trimming...
Academic procrastination is common among students, yet few studies
offer effective psycho-educational intervention programs. The present
brief qualitative study examined the effect of increasing self-regulation
behaviors and self-efficacy beliefs to reduce academic procrastination
among 11 undergraduate students participating in an intervention...
We assessed the sense of psychological home among adult men (n = 17; M age = 29.7 years old) who had experienced migration to Italy, focusing on the relationship between psychological home and the process of integration into the new country. Psychological home is a dynamic process in which people sense a safe and secure environment that ranges beyo...
The country where persons migrate may involve essential aspects for successful settlement and integration. Perceptions of home encompass more than spatial location and may include a sense of belonging, intimacy, and security, which contribute to one’s well-being. Psychological home refers to a feeling of belonging to others, with or without maintai...
The purpose of this study was to assess the Japanese version of General Procrastination Scale (J-GPS) previously created by Hayashi (2007), with a large, varied sample of Japanese adults. The paper-and-pencil surveys were distributed to Japanese people who lived in the large-, medium-, and small-sized cities who lived in Japan. Participants were re...
Unaccompanied migrant minors are youth under the age of 18 who migrate alone, traveling separately from both parents. These youth may be asylum seekers, recognized refugees, or other externally displaced persons. Unaccompanied migrant minors have become an increasingly prevalent global issue. However, this phenomenon might be better understood cons...
Office clutter might significantly impact productivity, yet no
study examined workers differences across upper and lower
employee status. The present study surveyed 202 U.S. on-site
workers on work-related variables, including office clutter. Job
classifications were aggregated, creating two groups: upper- and
lower-level employees. A significant d...
The steady growth in the number of college students with learning disabilities (LD) increases the need to investigate their unique characteristics and behaviors in aca-demia. The present study examined the differences in academic and online procrastination , academic stress, and academic self-efficacy between college students with and without LD. I...
Many employees work remotely from home. However, work at home may be complicated by one's procrastination tendencies and office clutter impacting work behaviors. The present study examined affective and cognitive perceptions of 88 U.S. remote workers at home (64% men) surveyed online on home office clutter, indecision, procrastination, and work-rel...
Religion is a salient part of cultural competence for mental health clinicians. This paper describes rationales for clinicians to work with a less well-known Catholic clergy: permanent deacons. Demographic, personality structure and religious commitment data from nearly 2,000 deacons support collaboration with clinicians to improve the continuity o...
The common proverb of “The early bird gets the worm” has often been used to express that the early riser is more likely to be successful. Although this may be true, late risers may be just as productive as earlier risers. This concept of different waking times is exhibited in the behaviors of two birds: the lark and the owl. These two birds have op...
The common proverb of “The early bird gets the worm” has often been used to express that the early riser is more likely to be successful. Although this may be true, late risers may be just as productive as earlier risers. This concept of different waking times is exhibited in the behaviors of two birds: the lark and the owl. These two birds have op...
Αcademic procrastination, characterized by self-regulation difficulties in delaying the start or completion of academic tasks (Ferrari, 2010), is widespread among university students. One of the most widely used measures of academic procrastination is Procrastination Assessment Scale Students (PASS, Solomon &Rotblum, 1984). However, there is a
dear...
Despite popular articles and books, researchers have failed to examine how office clutter emerges and potential mediators underlying clutter in personal workspaces. We hypothesized that workers whose jobs require them to deal with a heavy volume of work at a rapid pace would be more likely to experience job strain (i.e., emotional exhaustion), whic...
The present study examined the mediational effect of self-esteem on the relationship between self-control and academic procrastination. The sample consisted of 426 emerging adults (university students; 218 female, 208 male; M age = 21.3 years old, SD = 1.5) who completed reliable and valid academic procrastination, self-control, and self-esteem mea...
The job demands–control model (JDC) postulates that an increased control over work resources mitigates or “buffers” the positive association between job stressors and strainers. However, the inconclusive validation of the buffering hypothesis across multiple studies suggests the need for fresh approaches, both conceptual and methodological. We inte...
Life regrets over inactions were found to have a long-term negative effect on people’s lives. Procrastination can be considered as a type of inaction; however, life regret regarding procrastination has been only briefly studied. The present study examined the factorial structure of the life-domain regret regarding procrastination scale (LDR-P) in t...
Clutter in the home negatively influences a person's well-being, but this tendency has not been investigated in workplace settings. The present study addressed whether office clutter impacted workplace well-being (job satisfaction, job tension, employee engagement, burnout, and occupational stress) using a crowd-sourced sample of U.S. adults (n = 2...
This exploratory study examined the extent of "racial profiling" based on the defendant's name. Using a mock-jury design with a crowd-source on-line data recruitment process, adult participants (N = 268, 158 women, 109 men; M age = 39.56 years) were assigned to read a police report on either a White or Black defendant. Participants were instructed...
Clutter in the home negatively influences a person's well-being, but this tendency has not been investigated in workplace settings. The present study addressed whether office clutter impacted workplace well-being (job satisfaction, job tension, employee engagement, burnout, and occupational stress) using a crowd-sourced sample of U.S. adults (n = 2...
background Decisional procrastination, or indecision, is the mala-daptive postponing of decision-making when faced with conflicts or choices. In the present exploratory study, we examined two factors of a psychological model toward understanding the underpinnings of indecision, namely: self-critical cognition as a predisposition to indecision and d...
Background
Procrastination affects over 20% of adult men and women, with current international data indicating a global preference to sys-tematically delay the start or completion of intended tasks. Procrastination is a common, sub-optimal decision-making strategy that emphasises short-term benefits at the expense of later performance. Some individ...
This study assessed perceptions of psychological home and clutter among emerging adults. Young adults (242 women, 82 men; M age = 19 years old) enrolled in introductory psychology classes at a medium size Midwestern US private university completed several self-report scales. These measures included psychological home, clutter perceptions, person/th...
We examined psychological home, place attachment, clutter, and life satisfaction with adult women of color (n = 99; M age = 50.33 years old) drawn from a larger national sample of women who self-identified with clutter tendencies. We assessed resource (i.e., annual household income, homeownership status, and relationship status) and contextual (i.e...
Despite popular articles and books, researchers have failed to examine how office clutter emerges and potential mediators underlying clutter in personal workspaces. We hypothesized that workers whose jobs require them to deal with a heavy volume of work at a rapid pace would be more likely to experience job strain (i.e., emotional exhaustion), whic...
Communities form individuals, and individuals form communities. It is a journey of lifespan reciprocity: From our earliest ages and stages we need our communities to guide us and challenge us, to nurture us and toughen us, to give us roots and wings, and to finally give us the chance to become those who teach the next generations to thrive. This jo...
In the present study, Roman Catholic deacons at one of the 216 Hispanic parishes across the U.S. reported on their parish sense of community (P-SOC), using the SCI-2, within the congregation. P-SOC was assessed among socioeconomic status of lower/working class (n = 109) or middle class (n = 107) Latino parishes, located in either an urban (n = 152)...
In the present study, young adults (n = 346; M age = 21.5 years old) completed self-reported measures of procrastination, self-identity with possessions, clutter, place attachment, and psychological home to provide an ecological understanding of the context in which chronic procrastinators live. Results found behavioral procrastination tendencies r...
We explored how two types of procrastination (indecision and behavioral), contribute to problems with clutter across three adult U.S. samples differing as generational cohorts. An online survey was administered to college students (mean age = 21) and younger adults recruited using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk; mean age = 31), plus older adults r...
University students (n = 75; M age = 21.4 years old) and community adults (n = 55: M age = 36.6 years old) completed self-reported measures of decisional procrastination (indecision), character (life satisfaction, meaningful life, and need for cognition), context (place attachment, sense of community, and psychological home) and “cross-over” factor...
Whether individuals actually engage in procrastination depends on different factors (e.g., personality, temporal and situational prerequisites). In order to assess behavioral procrastination adequately, delays that qualify as procrastination must be differentiated from other forms of delay. We therefore developed the ecological momentary assessment...
University students (n = 75; M age = 21.4 years old)
and community adults (n = 55: M age = 36.6 years old) completed
self-reported measures of decisional procrastination (indecision),
character (life satisfaction, meaningful life, and need
for cognition), context (place attachment, sense of community,
and psychological home) and Bcross-over^ factor...
Abstract We explored how two types of procrastination (indecision
and behavioral), contribute to problems with clutter
across three adult U.S. samples differing as generational cohorts.
An online survey was administered to college students
(mean age = 21) and younger adults recruited using Amazon’s
Mechanical Turk (MTurk; mean age = 31), plus older...
The present study investigated the factorial structure of a Japanese version of the Adult Inventory of Procrastination Scale (AIP; 15 items; McCown & Johnson, 1995; see Ferrari, Johnson, & McCown, 1995). The AIP measured individuals' behavioral tendency to delay either the beginning or completing tasks. Maximum likelihood factor analysis with obliq...
The influences of self-forgiveness on the relationship between procrastination and positive affect were assessed. A total of 317 Turkish students (198 female; 119 male) completed procrastination, self-forgiveness, and positive-negative affect scales. We tested our hypothesized model with structural equation modeling, and results revealed the empiri...
Indecision, the maladaptive postponing of decision-making, often results in no action taken, and its relationships with regret and life satisfaction are untested. We hypothesized that among U.S. citizens’ higher indecision would predict lower life satisfaction and that regret would mediate this relationship. By snowball sampling, a large adult comm...
Catholic deacons with children (N = 1,776: M number of children = 3.3), termed here “clergy dads,” completed the HEXACO-60, social desirability, and demographic variables. Personality dimensions predicting clergy dad’s family size (i.e., number of children) yield only emotional stability and conscientiousness (accounting for social desirability). H...
Regret is a common consequence of inaction in different life domains. Procrastination can be considered a type of inaction that may evoke regret. However regret regarding procrastination in different life-domains was only briefly studied. The aim of the present study was to develop and to examine the factorial structure of a new life-domain regret...
Background—This study used survival analysis to examine risk factors for substance abuse
relapse among residents in Oxford Houses (OH) a national network of self-run, self-financed
aftercare homes for individuals recovering from substance use disorders.
Methods—Participants who entered OH within 60 days of a one-year longitudinal study (N=268)
wer...
Through a national survey, Roman Catholic deacons (n = 1349) and men in spiritual formation for the diaconate, called candidates (n = 205), completed on-line measures of personality dimensions (i.e., HEXACO-60) and transformational leadership, as well as demographic variables. Results indicated that for both candidates and deacons, personality dime...
Christian deacons (50 Roman Catholic; 50 Methodist) self-reported their personality, religiosity, and leadership attributes, plus social desirability tendencies. There were no significant correlates between social desirability and any of these self-reported variables. Results also found no significant differences across Christian denominations on p...
We assessed the impact of clerical and life stressors on the religious commitments of employed, married with children Catholic deacons (n = 317 men: M age = 43.87 years old). Independent of social desirability, stressors during the last 6 months predicted separately intracommitment and intercommitment variables. Enthusiasm for church work and time...
Permanent deacons in the Roman Catholic Church (all male) are active in their local community and congregation mobilizing faith formation events, liturgical services, and community social action programs, yet not much is known about their leadership style. The present study compared U.S. 203 permanent deacons with 202 male community-based directors...
Roman Catholic deacons (n = 1,349) and deacon candidates (n = 202), completed online measures of personality dimensions (i.e., HEXACO-60), religious commitment, spiritual transcendence beliefs, social desirability, and demographic variables. Social desirability tendencies did not impact responding for deacons or candidates. For candidates and deaco...
Background:
This study used survival analysis to examine risk factors for substance abuse relapse among residents in Oxford Houses (OH), a national network of self-run, self-financed aftercare homes for individuals recovering from substance use disorders.
Methods:
Participants who entered OH within 60 days of a 1-year longitudinal study (N = 268...
This research investigates a “dark side of home,” created when the experiential quality of home is compromised by ‘clutter,’ defined as an overabundance of possessions that collectively create chaotic and disorderly living spaces. Based on relationships among constructs largely developed by phenomenologists, we conceptualize psychological home as a...
Catholic permanent deacons (n = 1,628; M age = 55.79 years old, SD = 7.08) completed a measure on their parish sense of community (P-SOC), plus whether there was a parish elementary school, the school principal's gender, and whether the principal was a religious or lay person. Results indicated that there were no significant differences on P-SOC be...
Αcademic procrastination, characterized by self-regulation difficulties in delaying
the start or completion of academic tasks (Ferrari, 2010), is widespread among university
students. One of the most widely used measures of academic procrastination
is Procrastination Assessment Scale Students (PASS, Solomon &Rotblum, 1984). However, there is a
dear...
One of the most widely used measures of chronic procrastination is Lay’s General Procrastination scale (GP). This present study aimed to explore the factor structure of the Greek GP scale in a sample of 865 university students (Mage = 21.84 years; SD = 4.18). The scale’s convergent validity was tested with two personality measures most closely rela...
Procrastinators purposefully delay the start or completion of tasks for their own irrational reasons and experience anxiety over the delay. However, imagining a typical ‘procrastinator’ evokes several conflicting images with differing experiences and personality correlates. One reason for this muddled picture may be conflated constructs. We posit t...
The present study assessed self-reported religiosity, spirituality, faith-related behaviors, leadership styles, and personality dimensions of 156 Hispanic Catholic deacons, based on varied educational degrees assisting in Hispanic (n = 91) or non-Hispanic (n = 65) parishes. Results found no significant differences on any self-reported variables for...
Ordained, permanent deacons in the Catholic Church (N = 1,717; M age = 45.9 years old, SD = 6.9) participated in a self-report study of personality traits by completing the HEXACO-60. There were no significant differences (by generational cohort or geographic region) on reported personality traits. No significant partial correlates (controlling for...
Goal-oriented thinking, including hope and self-efficacy, might play a constructive and integral role in the substance abuse recovery process, although such an effect may differ by race. The current study investigated hope and self-efficacy, specifically abstinence self-efficacy, as predictors of negative affect (i.e. depression and anxiety) in a l...
One negative consequence related to poor future planned behaviour is
chronic procrastination, the purposive and frequent delay in beginning
or completing a task to the point of experiencing subjective discomfort.
Although shown to be associated to affective, behavioral, and cognitive
characteristics reflecting more than inefficient time management,...
The current study explored the relationships within a higher education institution between school sense of community among first-generation U.S. citizen students and first-generation college students compared to students of non-first generation studentship and citizenship (N = 3,025; M age = 27.21), and of varied racial backgrounds. Students at a l...
The Hispanic masculinity style may be “machismo” (dominant, distant, and unemotional) or “caballeros” (engaged, affectionate, compassionate), but is unknown among Hispanic clergy. Using a U.S. on-line survey database, Hispanic (n = 127) and non-Hispanic (n = 1708) Catholic deacons self-reported religiosity and personality traits. Hispanic and non-H...
Social agencies and services exist in urban settings for the physical needs of homeless citizens. However, there exist few if any programs that feed the spiritual needs of the homeless. In the present study, 35 women and 23 men (55.9% African-American) competed short, reliable and valid self-report measures on their levels of loneliness and addicti...
Catholic deacons (n = 1,990; M age = 55.8 years, sd = 7.1) reported their level of education , religious commitment attitudes, spiritual transcendence beliefs, and behaviour in relation to a set of secular and sacred acts. Deacons with a doctorate degree (n = 234) reported a higher sense of religious commitment grounded in interpersonal activities...
Hispanic deacons (n = 156) from across the United States completed measures on personal leadership style and their perceived sense of parish community along with demographic items. Most deacons (n = 91) were assisting at Hispanic parishes, while many assisted at predominately non-Hispanic parishes (n = 65). Results found no significant difference b...
Hispanic deacons (n = 156) from across the United States completed measures on personal leadership style and their perceived sense of parish community along with demographic items. Most deacons (n = 91) were assisting at Hispanic parishes, while many assisted at predominately non-Hispanic parishes (n = 65). Results found no significant difference b...
This study sought to identify individual- and house-level predictors of women's employment, education, and retention in self-run recovery homes. Data from a national study of 292 women in Oxford House, an international organization of recovery homes grounded on self-help/mutual aid and 12-step principles were analyzed. Results indicated that the ho...
One of the tenets of community psychology is examining psychological phenomena in context, and our studies explored the relationship between hope and context among individuals in recovery for substance use disorders. Study 1 involved 595 participants who resided in 90 recovery homes. We found that context, as house effects, was salient in residents...
Using a social psychological framework, this study examined the relationship between undergraduates’ sense of school belonging and endorsement of their universities’ mission identity at two US universities of different size, geographic location, and Catholic traditions. Undergraduates at both universities completed online surveys that included: dem...