Procrastination and Task Avoidance--Theory, Research and Treatment

Chronic procrastination and task-avoidant behavior are extraordinarily common problems. As we will suggest later in this chapter and throughout this book, procrastination is often related to a variety of psychiatric syndromes. Moreover, as it will be hypothesized in Chapter 7, procrastinatory behavior may constitute a causal stress that contributes to psychological dysfunctions and maladaptive behavior patterns.

Despite the lack of a singular definition of the key term and, until recently, a relative lack of interest displayed toward this topic by the scientific community, there have been several forays into research regarding procrastination. This Chapter reviews empirical research, highlighting areas warranting further inquiry, with emphasis on contrasting the past and potential contributions of various theoretical orientations. Later Chapters will focus on specific, novel theories or new data that are presently unavailable.

As indicated in Chapter 1, there is reason to believe that procrastination is an important subject for empirical research. Tasks that are not completed promptly may reduce both individual performance and organizational effectiveness (Ferrari, 1993a; 1994). Furthermore, they may be a source of stress to those individuals who are expected to complete the tasks (McKean, 1990). Articles and books on procrastination have appeared recently in the popular press (e.g., Burka & Yuen, 1983; Cornyn-Selby, 1986; Ellis & Knaus, 1977; Gagliard, 1984; Knaus, 1973). Useful theory and research have begun to be conducted. However, before theory construction and substantial research are performed, precise measurement of the construct is needed. Our purpose in this Chapter is to address the psychometric properties of several self-report measures of procrastination.

It has been estimated that over 70% of college students engage in procrastination (Ellis & Knaus, 1977). Solomon and Rothblum (1984) concluded that academic procrastination may depend on the task: Among university students in an introductory psychology course, 46% of students reported procrastination when writing a term paper, 30% when reading weekly assignments, 28% when studying for exams, 23% on attendance tasks, and 11% on administrative tasks. In addition, they examined possible causes of academic procrastination, as perceived by students. Results indicated that fear of failure and task aversiveness were the primary motives reported. These motives have been replicated with Dutch university students as well (Schouwenburg, 1992a).

The defining characteristic of trait procrastinators is the extension of temporal sequences between their intentions and their corresponding goal-directed behavior. Procrastinators are often acutely aware of these intention-behavior gaps. For example, student procrastinators will recall numerous occasions on which their study behavior failed to match their temporal intentions. Trait procrastinators may also anticipate such discrepancies in their future behavior. These self-cognitions should have implications for the everyday affective experiences of such individuals. This Chapter addresses these implications, drawing from Higgins’s (1987) self-discrepancy theory—a theoretical account that may be most useful in understanding and explaining the behavior of procrastinators.

examine in detail the proposed association between perfectionism and procrastination / a multidimensional approach to the study of perfectionism is adopted to clarify the link between perfectionism and procrastination / examine the similarities and differences between dimensions of perfectionism and procrastination at a conceptual level / present a review of existing empirical data on perfectionism and procrastination / a multidimensional approach to the study of perfectionism is utilized to demonstrate that procrastination is a response to a form of social evaluation that involves the perceived imposition of unrealistic expectations on the self / directions for future investigation in this area are discussed (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Procrastination is defined typically as an irrational tendency to delay tasks that should be completed (Lay, 1986). Procrastination is believed to be associated with several cognitive, behavioral, and affective correlates and is regarded as a “dysfunction of important human abilities” in routine tasks and critical life tasks (Milgram, Sroloff, & Rosenbaum, 1988, p. 210). The extent of the dysfunction is reflected by estimates indicating that at least 25% of students suffer from severe levels of procrastination (see Hill, Hill, Chabot, & Barrall, 1978; McCown, Johnson, & Petzel, 1989b). Given the potential importance of the procrastination construct, it is perhaps not surprising that it is a topic that has been discussed at length by clinicians and by counselors (e.g., Burka & Yuen, 1983; Ellis & Knaus, 1977; Rarer, 1983).

Throughout this volume we have noted that procrastinators differ in emotional, cognitive, and behavioral domains compared to nonprocrastinators. Research findings reported in several Chapters indicate positive relations between procrastination and a wide variety of variables such as depression, forgetfulness, disorganization, dysfunctional impulsivity, sensation-seeking, perfectionism, noncompetitiveness, and decreased energy and self-control.

The purpose of the next two Chapters is to present suggested clinical guidelines regarding interventions for the treatment of decisional and task procrastination. Unfortunately, only a very small literature exists that includes outcome data regarding the treatment of procrastination. Many of these studies remain unpublished, existing either in dissertations or in other sources (e.g., manuscripts that have not been peer reviewed, requests for funding, and internal evaluation data). The reason for this is because procrastination-treatment programs are usually not designed for research purposes. Data, if collected at all, is obtained for program evaluation or other internal needs. There is an absence of double-blind attention-placebo trials, which are usually considered necessary to establish demonstrated efficacy of a treatment. Because of the lack of comprehensive outcome studies, many of our treatment recommendations rely on clinical experience. Other interventions draw on our unpublished work, which spans the past several years. We admit that at times our methodology is less satisfactory than we would like. Our hope is that these clinically derived interventions can eventually be subjected to empirical testing.

In Chapter 9 we presented a theory-based, structured therapeutic program aimed at reducing procrastination. This time-limited program was primarily relevant to treatment of procrastinating college students. The premises regarding the etiologies of procrastination that we introduce in this book were used to shape the content of those interventions. Specifically, we stated that procrastination is most typically caused by two distinct and apparently independent etiologies: (1) neurotic overarousal, which causes task avoidance because of anxiousness or fear associated with undertaking specific projects or class assignments; and (2) a lack of conscientiousness associated with not giving sufficient forethought to deadlines, under-arousal regarding upcoming goals, and possibly also impulsiveness. We also presented some preliminary outcome data suggesting that the brief interventions highlighted in the preceding Chapter had some efficacy over and above an attention-placebo treatment group, traditional psychotherapy, or a simple study-skills training group.

Throughout this volume, emphasis has been placed on reporting empirical findings and on the extension of these findings to clinical and counseling intervention. In addition, trait procrastination has been discussed from a wide variety of perspectives, and promising directions for research have been presented. Thus, as one of the few books on procrastination, the work in this volume represents a systematic effort to present and integrate often disparate psychological areas.