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Do university students from
different cultures
procrastinate for the same
reasons, to the same extent
or have the same
consequences?
An investigation of academic
procrastination in Greece
Argiropoulou, M. , Mathioudakis, K. Siatis, A. , Ziaka, R,
Roussos, P. & Kalantzi- Azizi, A. 1
1. Department of Psychology, University of Athens, Greece
, Bishop’s University, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Presentation outline
•Extent of procrastination
and theoretical background
•Presentation of the
research program of
Department of Psychology
of Athens University,
Greece
•Discussion
•80-95% of the students procrastinate at
some point of their lives
•75% of them believe that they
procrastinate towards meeting their
study obligations
•50% systematically procrastinate
•20- 40% of the student report having
very serious difficulties
•50% of the Greek undergraduate
students do not ever graduate
•length of studies is extended up to 25%
in Greek universities
Frequency of procrastination
*
“ people in a hunter/gatherer environment should find that
their motivational compulsions fit motivational demands
almost perfectly; "As long as they sleep and hoard and mate
when the relevant urge arises, they will behave more or less
adaptively in the environment in which those urges
evolved" (George Ainslie, 1992).
*Βefore the industrial revolution procrastination was viewed
neutrally and could be interpreted as wise course of action
*Unfortunately, in our civilized circumstances, contingencies
are quite different, and it often becomes important to act not
as nature intended
Procrastination and culture
Personality correlates
- conscientiousness
- self-esteem
-self-efficacy
+ neuroticism
+ proneness to boredom
Situational correlates
+ time distance from reward
+ task aversion
Mediating factors
intentions
self-efficacy expectations
self-regulatory processes
Demographics
Age (younger)
Gender (men)
Year (increase)
Steel (2007)
Theoretical background
Theoretical background
Utility = Expectancy X Value
Γ Χ Delay
Expectancy: Self-efficacy
Value: Task aversiveness, Need for achievement, Boredom proness
Sensitivity to delay: Distractibility, impulsiveness, lack of self-control,
age
Delay: timing of rewards and punishments, organized, intention- action
gap
TMT (Steel & König, 2006)
The failure to implement
intentions and the intention -
action gap is significantly
more often among
procrastinators than people
who don’t often exhibit
dilatory behaviors:
This demonstrates the
importance of volition in
explaining self-regulation
failures.
*Volition coordinates attention,
motivation, emotion,
activation, cognition &
behavior to optimize
implementation of intentions.
*It is differentiated into several
volitional competences, which
can be described as either
consciously deployable
strategies or unconsciously
represented mechanisms.
Kuhl’s integrative Personality Systems Interaction Theory (PSI)
Theoretical background
Cognitive
macro-
systems
Intention Memory
(Thinking,
planning
intentions, -A)
Extension
Memory
(Context- and
self-knowledge,
feeling,
preferences, +A)
Object Recognition
(categories, “entities“,
discrepancy-sensitive
attention, -A)
Intuitive
Behavior
Control
(Automatic
procedures, +A)
Personality
functions are
explained
according to
interaction
between the 4
subsystems
The above
pattern of
interactions is
modulated by
affective change
Personality Systems Interaction Theory
Theoretical background: Volitional Components
Self
–control
(inner
“dictatorship”)
Maintains a concrete, active goal and shields it against
competitive goals or attractive action alternatives through the
suppression of self
-relevant needs, feelings, or interests
(
Cognitive self-control , Affective self-control) – conscious
process
facilitated by negative mood, supports others-
directed/self alien goals.
Self
-regulation
(inner
“democracy”)
Formation of self
-
congruent goals, based on a person’s greatest
n
eeds, preferences and feelings (Self-determination, Positive
self
-motivation, Self-relaxation), an unconscious process
facilitated by positive mood, which in turn produces increased
access to Extension
Memory
Volitional
Development
Ability to maintain goal directed self
-control functions
(
Readiness to act, Willpower, Ability to Concentrate) under
conditions of burden or „load“
Self
-access
Ability to maintain self
-regulation functions (Action
orientation after failure, Felt sense ,
Integration of
inconsistencies)
under conditions of threat -volitional
competence during challenging goals pursuit
Aims of the research program
•Frequency, wish to change & reasons of academic
procrastination
•relationship between general & academic
procrastination with mental health, anxiety & life
satisfaction among college students
•relationship between procrastination with health
behaviors
•relationship between problematic internet use, flow
& academic procrastination
Study
Procedure
Gender
Measures
Study
1
(N=
865,
Mean age
=
21,82yrs)
Group
administration
Male
(Ν
= 229)
Female
(Ν
= 605)
•
Volitional Components Inventory
(Κuhl & Furhman, 2004)
•
Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students, (Solomon
& Rothblum, 1984)
•
General Procrastination Scale (Lay, 1986)
•
The Trait Personality Questionnaire (Tsaousis,1999)
Study
2
(N=
182,
Mean age
=
22,32yrs)
Snowball
sampling
technique
Male
(Ν
= 65)
Female
(Ν
= 117)
•
Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students, (Solomon
& Rothblum, 1984)
•
General Procrastination Scale (Lay, 1986)
•
Life Satisfaction Scale (Diener, Emmons,
Larsen,&Griffin,1985)
•
Mental Health Inventory (Veit & Ware, 1983)
Study 3
(N=141,
Mean age
=
24,27yrs)
Snowball
sampling
technique
Male
(Ν
= 60)
Female
(Ν
= 81)
•
General Procrastination Scale (Lay, 1986)
•
Fragebogen zur Erfassung des Gesundheitsver-haltens
(Dlugosch & Krieger , 1995)
Study 4
(N=178,
Mean age
=
22,15yrs)
Snowball
sampling
technique
Male
(Ν
= 54)
Female
(Ν
= 124)
•
Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students, (Solomon
& Rothblum, 1984)
•
Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire, (Thatcher &
Goolam, 2005)
•
Self- report Flow Scale (Webster, Trevino & Ryan,
1993)
Results
Study 1: Investigation of frequency, wish
to change & reasons of academic
procrastination
Academic tasks
Writing
term
papers
(%)
Studying
for exams
(%)
Administrative
tasks
(%)
Attendance
tasks
(%)
School
activities
in general
(%)
Nearly
always
or always
procrastinate
18.7 23.2 12.1 14 12.4
Nearly always
or always a
problem
30.3 39.4 16.9 21.2 15.1
Academic Procrastination Mean =26.14 (S.D. =6.57),
General procrastination Mean = 53.86 (S.D. =11.93)
Factor
%
variance
Cronbach
alpha
“Fear of failure/negative
evaluation”,
#7,
(1, 2, 6, 8, 15, 21, 24)
13.44 .81
“
task aversion/opposition to
externally imposed tasks”
#9,
(4, 7, 9, 10, 16, 17, 19, 20, 26)
13.41 .78
“
fear of success/peer pressure” #5,
(12, 14, 18, 22, 25)
19.39 .71
“lack of assertiveness/ time
management skills”
#4 ,
(3, 5, 11, 23)
7.71 .57
Total
variance explained 44.95
KMO = ,856, Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity=5797,512, P= ,000. Principal
Component Analysis, with Orthogonal Rotation
Independent
Variables (step 2)
GPS PASS
Beta Βeta
PASS/GPS
.20***
.30***
Volitional Dev.
-.41***
-.14**
Self
-Access
.10***
-
.14***
Self
-regul. .02 .02
C
onsci.
-
.26***
-.08
Task
Aversion .12***
.14***
Total R Square .59 .39
Note. * p<.05; *** p<.001.
GPS
PASS
Volition
Self
-Regulation
-.26**
-.22**
Self
-Control -.19**
-.19**
Volitional Dev.
-.71**
-.54**
Self
-Access -.35**
-.40**
Gen. Life Stress
.10*
.17**
Personality
Neuroticism
.19**
.23**
C
onsci.
-
.65**
-
.48**
Fear
Eval. .14**
.20**
Situation/task
Task
Aversion .48**
.44**
Peer pressure
.22**
.21**
Time
manag. .16**
.21**
Study 1: Personality, situational & mediating factors of
procrastination
*
Study 1: Personality, situational & mediating factors of
procrastination
Results
Study 2: Investigation of the relationships
between general & academic
procrastination with mental health, anxiety
& life satisfaction among college students
Independent
variables
GPS PASS
Beta Βeta
Life
satisfaction
-
.55***
-.24*
Mental
health
-.04 - .04*
Anxiety
.05 .08
Total R Square
.14
***
.18
***
Note. * p<.05; *** p<.001.
GPS
PASS
Life
satisfaction
-
.35**
-
.36**
Mental
health
-
.28**
-
.37**
Anxiety
.22**
.
30**
Note. ** p<.01.
Study 2: Procrastination & mental health
*
Study 2: Procrastination & mental health
Results
Study 3: Investigation of the relationship
between procrastination with health
behaviors
Health
Behaviors GPS
Uncontrolled diet
.30**
Nutrition as inhibitor of
negative feelings &
mood
.23**
Exercise
-.34
***
Study 3: procrastination & health behaviors
Results
Study 4: Investigation of the relationship
between problematic internet use, flow &
academic procrastination among college
students
Independent
variables
Problematic
internet use
Beta
Pass
.55***
Flow
.54***
Total R Square
.20***
Note. * p<.05; *** p<.001.
Problematic
internet use
Flow
.36**
Pass
.29**
Note. ** p<.01.
Study 4: Procrastination & Problematic internet use
Study 4: Procrastination & Problematic internet use
*
A significant
proportion of Greek
students regularly
procrastinates on
several academic tasks.
The majority of
students believes that
an intervention against
procrastination would
be useful and
expresses the wish to
participate
Students attribute their dilatory behavior
to:
fear of failure/negative evaluation,
task aversion/opposition to externally
imposed tasks,
fear of success/peer pressure
the lack of assertiveness/ time
management skills
Study 1: Conclusions
Academic/
general
procrastination
Volitional development (readiness to
act, willpower, ability to concentrate)
Self-access (Action Orientation after failure,
Integration of inconsistencies , felt sense)
Conscientiousness
Task attractiveness
Study 1: Conclusions
•Volitionally Development partially mediated the relationship
between Conscientiousness & Procrastination and fully
mediated the relationship between Task aversion and
Procrastination.
•Neuroticism and the other volitional components such as Self-
regulation and Self-control didn’t prove to be significant
predictors of procrastination, contrary to our predictions
•The role of volition as a mediating factor between personality
& situational factors and procrastination was established,
especially under conditions of burden or threat
Study 1: Conclusions
*
•Students who reported
higher life satisfaction,
were less anxious and
scored higher on
Mental Health
Inventory were less
likely to procrastinate
in general, and their
academic obligations
in particular
•Procrastinators were
more likely to eat
uncontrollably and to
use food as an
inhibitor of negative
emotions and mood.
•They were also less
likely to exercise
Studies 2 & 3: Conclusions
•Flow and Academic
Procrastination were significant
predictors of problematic
internet use (PIU).
•No statistically significant
relationship was found between
problematic internet use and
academic procrastination in a
previous Turkish study (Odaci,
2011)
•Academic procrastination did
not mediate the relationship
between PIU and flow
•Previous researchers have
found that internet
procrastination partially
mediated the relationship
between PIU and flow on the
Internet (Thatcher,Wretschko & Fridjhon,
2008)
Study 4: Conclusions
•Procrastination seems to be a
universal affliction with the same
serious consequences in education,
mental and physical health
•Effective, evidence-based
intervention programs are urgently
needed, given the frequency and
impact of procrastination
•Cross- cultural samples
needed
•Students refraining from
school/classes should be
reached
•Behavioral measures of
procrastination
•Experimental conditions
“ A journey of thousand
miles begins with a single
step”
“A job begun is a job half
done”
Thank you for your time and attention!!!
Contact details:
E-mail:gmargirop@gmail.com, www.argiropoulou.gr