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Procrastination and counterfactual thinking: Avoiding what might have been
Abstract
The possible negative consequences of counterfactuals were explored in the current study by examining the relationship between counterfactual direction and trait procrastination, a self-defeating behavioural style. Eighty participants generated counterfactuals in response to two experimental anxiety inductions. Trait procrastination was overall related to avoiding thoughts about how things could have been better (making more downward and relatively fewer upward counterfactuals) in response to the two anxiety-provoking scenarios, suggesting the involvement of a self-enhancement motive (mood repair). Evidence for the involvement of this self-motive in procrastinating behaviour also emerged, as procrastination was more related to making more downward counterfactuals for a delay-specific anxiety scenario than for a general anxiety scenario. The pattern of results supports the proposal that downward counterfactuals may be associated with negative behavioural styles such as procrastination and implicates self-enhancement motives in this relationship. The behavioural and motivational consequences of downward counterfactuals are discussed and possible connections between downward counterfactuals and other self-defeating behaviours are presented.
... In contrast, downward counterfactuals-which focus on how a negative outcome could have been much worse but actually was not-can provide relief from the disappointment of undesired outcomes (Markman et al., 1993). Accordingly, downward counterfactuals can be strategically used to improve mood (Sirois, 2004). When the negative event is controllable, a preference for downward counterfactuals in response to a negative event can be dysfunctional because the affect regulation function supersedes attempts to correct future behavior (Roese, 1994;Sirois, 2004). ...
... Accordingly, downward counterfactuals can be strategically used to improve mood (Sirois, 2004). When the negative event is controllable, a preference for downward counterfactuals in response to a negative event can be dysfunctional because the affect regulation function supersedes attempts to correct future behavior (Roese, 1994;Sirois, 2004). When the negative outcome is uncontrollable and not likely to be repeated-such as a referendum vote-downward counterfactuals may be adaptive because they can protect against the negative feelings, and sense of helplessness associated with an unexpected negative outcome. ...
... Higher values indicated a tendency to make more upward relative to downward counterfactuals. This approach to is consistent with previous research on individual differences and counterfactual thinking (Markman & Miller, 2006;Sirois, 2004;Sirois et al., 2010). ...
Following an unexpected geo-political event, such as the United Kingdom’s June 2016 referendum vote to leave the European Union (“Brexit”), people will make counterfactuals that mentally undo the outcome and imagine what might have been had the outcome gone in the predicted direction. Yet little is known about how such counterfactuals may impact well-being, or the individual differences that might protect individuals from making potentially distressing upward counterfactuals. We examined the extent to which individual differences in enduring just-world beliefs shape the number of upward counterfactuals generated by British “Remain” voters, and the resulting effects on vote-related well-being. Participants who were directed to make counterfactuals reported the same levels of vote-related well-being as those who were not directed to make counterfactuals. Among those who made counterfactuals, making more upward counterfactuals was associated with reduced well-being. However, holding just-world beliefs limited the number of upward counterfactuals that were made and thus protected individuals from this distress. Our findings demonstrate that individual differences in enduring beliefs about the fairness of a vote may protect voter well-being when there will not be a second vote.
... Specifically, procrastination is associated with having less consideration for, and feeling less connected to, a future self, and this in turn is linked to less frequent practice of health-promoting behaviors (Sirois, Shucard, & Hirsch, 2014). In the context of health and health behaviors, focusing on current rather than future needs can reflect motivations for immediate mood regulation in response to health threats, as well as the need to restore self-esteem when faced with past procrastination with respect to one's health (Sirois, 2004A). ...
... Such messages can pose a threat to self-esteem that can trigger defensive rather than proactive responses. For example, in one study participants read two anxiety-provoking scenarios, one of which involved procrastination of an important health-protective behavior, wearing sunscreen while on vacation in a sunny tropical location (Sirois, 2004A). In the health scenario, a troublesome skin blemish had developed and medical care was sought with the suggestion that the blemish was possibly the first signs of skin cancer. ...
... As noted previously, those prone to procrastinate will engage in mood repair strategies to reduce the fear associated with the health threat and defensive thoughts to protect their sense of self-esteem, rather than taking precautions to reduce the threat (Sirois, 2004A). If the behavior being targeted is one that has been repeatedly delayed despite past prompting or recommendations, this could also trigger procrastinatory cognitions, repetitive and automatic negative thoughts that involve brooding about past procrastination (Stainton, Lay, & Flett, 2000). ...
Whether viewed as a domain-specific behaviour or as an enduring tendency, procrastination is a common form of self-regulation failure that is increasingly recognised as having implications for health-related outcomes. Central to procrastination is the prioritisation of reducing immediate negative mood at the cost of decisions and actions that provide long-term rewards, such as engaging in health behaviours. Because people tend to procrastinate on tasks they find difficult, unpleasant or challenging, many health-promoting behaviours are possible candidates for procrastination. As modifiable risk factors for the prevention of disease and disability, health behaviours are often the target of health risk communications aimed at health behaviour change and reducing health procrastination. Research has consistently demonstrated the deleterious effects of chronic procrastination on health outcomes, including poor physical health, fewer health promoting behaviours, and higher stress in healthy adults and those already living with a chronic health condition.
Examining the factors and psychological characteristics associated with chronic procrastination can provide insights into the processes involved in procrastination more generally, as well as the qualities of the health messages that can promote or prevent procrastination of the targeted behaviours. Low future orientation, avoidant coping, low tolerance for negative emotions, and low self-efficacy need to be considered when designing effective health risk communications to reduce procrastination of health behaviours. Yet, health risk communications aimed at reducing procrastination of important health behaviours such as healthy eating, regular physical activity, screening behaviours, and cessation of risky health behaviours often use fear appeals to motivate taking protective actions to reduce health risks. Such approaches may not be effective because they amplify the negative feelings towards the health behaviours, which can engender maladaptive coping responses and motivate procrastination rather than adaptive responding. This is especially likely among individuals prone to procrastination more generally, or specifically with respect to health. Health risk communication approaches that minimise the negative emotions associated with risk messages and instead highlight short-term benefits of engaging in health behaviours may be necessary to reduce further health behaviour procrastination among individuals prone to this form of self-regulation failure.
... N. Eisenbeck, et al. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science 13 (2019) 103-108 other words, procrastinating, when it serves inflexible tendencies, paradoxically can increase the level of unwanted thoughts and feelings (for similar explanations see Sirois, 2004;Sirois & Pychyl, 2013;Sirois & Tosti, 2012;Steel, 2007). It is quite possible that high levels of psychological inflexibility can create a vicious circle dominated by unwanted experiences and their avoidance, preventing the person from living a meaningful life. ...
... Psychological flexibility and values-based actions have been found to be predictors of procrastination (Gagnon et al., 2016;Glick et al., 2014) and interventions aiming to increase psychological inflexibility in order to reduce procrastination were successful (Dionne, 2016;Mullen, 2014;Wang et al., 2017). Moreover, there is extensive literature which perceives procrastination as a short-term mood repairing self-regulatory strategy that is likely to have negative consequences for the future (e.g., Baumeister & Heatherton, 1996;Sirois, 2004;Sirois & Pychyl, 2013;Steel, 2007). There is some support that procrastination is linked to mental health problems, but only when procrastinators react to their feelings and thoughts with maladaptive control strategies. ...
Academic procrastination is generally understood as a problematic emotion regulation practice related to poor mental health. Previous studies have linked it to higher levels of psychological inflexibility, defined as the rigid dominance of certain psychological reactions over personal values in guiding actions. In order to discover the exact role of psychological flexibility in procrastination, a sample of 429 university students completed measures of academic procrastination, psychological inflexibility and general psychological distress, comprising depression, anxiety and stress. As predicted, higher levels of procrastination were related to elevated psychological distress. Both procrastination and psychological distress were associated with psychological inflexibility. Moreover, psychological inflexibility mediated the relationship between general psychological distress and procrastination. This mediator role was observed in case of each negative emotional state (depression, anxiety and stress) that make up general psychological distress. These results indicate that negative emotional states and academic procrastination may be linked through the problematic self-regulation pattern of psychological inflexibility. The findings thus support the scope of interventions that target both psychological distress and academic procrastination by decreasing psychological inflexibility and promoting values-based actions.
... Solomon and Rothblum (1984) proved that students who view the task as an opponent and show fear or anxiety about the failure of the task will procrastinate the tasks. Academic procrastination is an amotivation associated with lower selfregulation, academic self-efficacy and self-esteem, and is associated with high levels of anxiety and stress (Tice & Baumeister, 1997;Sirois, 2004;Howell et al., 2006). This study aimed to test the model of the relationship between academic procrastination, goal orientation, self-efficacy, and test anxiety. ...
... Students are less confident about the success or their achievement more likely to avoid engagement in the task. The negative relationship between self-efficacy and procrastination can also provide further evidence to the view that individuals with low self-efficacy will be more susceptible to the fear of failure (Ferrari, Parker, & Ware, 1992;Van Eerde, 2003;Sirois, 2004;Steel, 2007). The results of this study indicate that the learning-goal orientation is correlated significantly negative with academic procrastination. ...
Procrastination is a phenomenon that has a double connotes, positive and negative and can occur in all individuals, not least students. Why do individuals procrastinate work completion? There are many factors that cause individuals to procrastinate their works, both external or situational factors and internal or personal factors. The aim of this study was to examine the role of the personal factor in procrastination. Three hundred and sixty-five undergraduate students completed questionnaires that assessed the motivation type of the students’ learning, the level of test anxiety, the level to which they procrastinate on doing tasks, and their self-efficacy regarding tasks and tests. The results of this study indicated that procrastination was negatively related to learning-goal orientation and self-efficacy and was positively associated with test anxiety. The results of structural equation modeling testing indicated that self-efficacy mediated the relations between goal orientation and procrastination and between test anxiety and procrastination. These results highlighted the importance of multiple students’ type of goal orientation motivation. Self-efficacy and test anxiety consistently affected procrastination with different characteristic. Self-efficacy effected significantly negative on procrastination, while test anxiety effected significantly positive on procrastination. Detailed discussion is presented in this study. © 2018, Edizioni Universitarie di Lettere Economia Diritto. All rights reserved.
... Even those who seek help for their habit will say that they work best under pressure (Fernie & Spada, 2008;Tice & Baumeister, 1997). After a poor outcome, procrastinators tend to prefer downward-counterfactuals (It could have been worse) rather than upward ones (I could have done better) (Sirois, 2004). Some studies have focused on self-handicapping behaviour, such as staying up late to party the night before an exam so that there is a back-up excuse to use in the event of poor exam performance (Ferrari & Tice, 2000;Rhodewalt & Vohs, 2005). ...
... International Coaching Psychology Review G Vol. 9 No. 2 September 2014 experiences' (p.123). Therefore, it is not surprising that several studies have found a relationship between low academic self-efficacy and procrastination (Burns et al., 2000;Ferrari, Parker & Ware, 1992;Haycock et al., 1998;Klassen et al., 2008a;Seo, 2008;Sirois, 2004;Steel, 2007;Van Eerde, 2003;Wolters, 2003). More recently, research has extended this argument to show that self-regulation accounts for the predictive power of self-efficacy on procrastination and that it is students' self-efficacy for self-regulated learning that matters (Klassen et al., 2008a;Strunk & Steel, 2011;Tan, Ang, Klassen, Yeo, Wong, Huan & Chong, 2008;Zimmerman, Bandura & Martinez-Pons, 1992). ...
Students who habitually procrastinate may be at risk of underachieving academically as well as putting their health and well-being in jeopardy. The current review of research on procrastination leads to the identification of four broad task likeability factors as encapsulating a range of procrastination patterns. These are: (1) perceived low level of task enjoyment; (2) anticipation of aversive outcomes; (3) estimated inability to do the task; and (4) competing attractiveness of alternative tasks. Each of these low task likeability factors can lead to procrastination when accompanied by particular self-regulation shortcomings, identified respectively as intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, anxieties of performance evaluation, low self-efficacy of performance and weak attentional control of distracters.
A self-regulation coaching framework is proposed as a comprehensive way to address academic procrastination. After identifying the low task likeability areas that are involved when faced with an assignment, student coachees can be facilitated to raise self-awareness and develop necessary self-regulation strategies to alleviate their procrastination patterns. The practical implications of this coaching approach are potentially vast. Therefore, further research to evaluate its efficacy is recommended as the next step towards this endeavour.
... Negative counterfactuals often involve identifying potential problems and dangers, which can be more numerous and varied than positive outcomes, as people tend to be more vigilant and thorough when considering potential threats (Roese & Epstude, 2017). This aligns with findings by Sirois (2004), who suggested that the anticipation of negative outcomes often leads to more extensive cognitive elaboration. ...
Anxiety-driven counterfactual thinking can be a slippery slope. Building on the premise that both positive and negative emotions can impact creativity, the present study examines how trait anxiety, optimism, and other mental health factors like therapy experience shape outputs in divergent thinking (DT) tasks. Using an online sample (N = 647), the study introduces counterfactual DT tasks, where participants are prompted to respond to how a situation can either go in their favor (positive) or against it (negative). Participants generated more original responses in the positive counterfactual DT task versus the negative one; however, they generated a higher number of ideas in the negative task compared to the positive one. Both counterfactual tasks led to higher originality and fluency as compared to a real-world DT task. Trait anxiety, especially when combined with past therapy experience or a previous mental health diagnosis, increased the number of negative counterfactual ideas. In contrast, optimism acted as a protective factor, enabling fewer ideas in the negative counterfactual task when combined with past therapy experience or a past mental health diagnosis. Our study challenges the binary view of emotional influences on creativity, highlighting the role of individual differences and experiences in shaping creative outputs. Diversifying the counterfactual DT tasks and using more refined measures of rumination and mental health history can provide further nuance to this line of research between creativity and anxiety.
... Emerging researches show that chronic procrastination can also negatively affect physical health, and those who procrastinate, report more stress and more health problems [4][5][6]. Procrastination occurs not only as a condition that will adversely affect health, but also as a less frequent practice of health-protective behaviors [4,7,8]. Procrastination behavior is associated with higher stress, acute health problems, and less healthy lifestyle behavior practices [9]. ...
... Emerging researches show that chronic procrastination can also negatively affect physical health, and those who procrastinate, report more stress and more health problems [4][5][6]. Procrastination occurs not only as a condition that will adversely affect health, but also as a less frequent practice of health-protective behaviors [4,7,8]. Procrastination behavior is associated with higher stress, acute health problems, and less healthy lifestyle behavior practices [9]. ...
Purpose: Maintaining a healthy life is the right of every individual. The important matter at this point is accepting early intervention without delaying healthcare demand and taking action for this intervention. Through this study, it was aimed to develop a measurement tool in order to determine the procrastination behavior for health services demand among the individuals at the age of 18 and over. Methods: In the study, a questionnaire form which consists of the demographic variables (gender, age, marital status, learning status, status of chronic diseases, number of applications to the physician, status of access to physician, and health assurance) and informed consent was employed. Healthcare Demand Procrastination Scale (HDPS) was employed as well as the Health Seeking Behavior Scale (HSBS) for the validity of criteria. The findings obtained from the study were evaluated through the programs of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) and AMOS. Results: No significant difference was found between the scores obtained through Kendall’s test which was conducted in order to test the content validity of the scale. In order to examine the structure validation of the scale, explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis were performed and as a result of the analysis, values of goodness of fit were found normal and acceptable. Finally, HSBS was employed to ensure the criteria validity of the scale. A positive relationship was found between procrastination behavior of healthcare demand and traditional behavior of health seeking while there was a negative relationship with professional health seeking behavior. In the Pearson correlation coefficient analysis which shows the compatibility of the average test-retest scores of the draft scale, a statistically significant positive relationship was observed between two measurements. Conclusions: As a result of the research, a scale which measures the healthcare demand procrastination behavior in Turkey was obtained. In addition, the behavior of individuals with a certain disease about health procrastination behavior for health services can also be examined through the developed scale.
... Th e behavioral approach to procrastination connects disorders of the self-regulatory system with an impulsive need for immediate reinforcements as the most important predictor of procrastination (Tice, & Bratslavsky, 2000;Tappolet, 2010;Sirois, 2004). Lack of motivation (Steel, & König, 2006;Steel, & Weinhardt, 2018), as well as treating tasks as aversive (Blunt, & Pychyl, 2000;Evans, Baer, & Segerstrom, 2009), are also considered to be important behavioral predictors of procrastination. ...
... Indeed, to minimize the risk of making a mistake is a significant category of procrastinating people [3]. Procrastination is considered mostly a way of collecting thoughts to avoid failure in everyday life [4]. By establishing more motivational behaviours than avoidance, less avoidable behaviour is employed [2]. ...
The current research was conducted to determine the mediating role of negative Affection toward self- forgiveness, and procrastination in male students of the University of Tabriz. Therefore, 361 male students between 18-22 were selected by a random cluster sampling method from three groups of Technical and engineering, basic science and human science faculties. The General Procrastination, Decisional Procrastination, Positive and Negative Affect, and Heartland Forgiveness inventories were used to gather the data. The theoretical model was tested within a structural equation- modelling framework to identify both direct and indirect effects. The results indicate an overall fit model. Although the direct effects of self-forgiveness on decisional and general procrastination behaviours were not significant, thus, an indirect impact of self-forgiveness on the decisional and general procrastination behaviours were fully mediated by negative affection. Also, the effect of self-forgiveness on negative affect and academic procrastination, the training was essential for students.
... This result aligns with the finding that self-compassionate people tend to employ healthy emotion-regulation strategies to cope with distressing events (Batts Allen & Leary, 2010;Neff et al., 2005;Sirois et al., 2015), and suggests that downward counterfactual thinking may be one of several adaptive techniques that self-compassionate people use to help them to view negative events as less threatening (Neff, 2003a;Roese, 1994). It is therefore possible that selfcompassion may indirectly influence other psychological outcomes that have been associated with downward counterfactual thinking (e.g., procrastination, motivation; McMullen & Markman, 2000;Sirois, 2004), even though the indirect path assessed in the current study was non-significant. This possibility could be examined by future research. ...
Objective: Consistently strong negative associations have been found between self-compassion and depressive symptoms, but less is known about mechanisms that underlie this relationship. This study investigated whether four types of counterfactual thinking (self-referent upward, nonreferent upward, other-referent upward and nonreferent downward) mediate this association.
Method: One hundred and sixty-seven Australian tertiary students (76.0% female) aged between 18 and 73 years (M = 33.63, SD = 10.76) completed an online survey.
Results: Self-compassion exhibited significant negative bivariate relationships with self-referent, nonreferent, and other-referent upward counterfactual thinking, and a positive association with nonreferent downward counterfactual thinking. A multiple-mediation analysis revealed one significant indirect effect, in which highly self-compassionate participants reported lower levels of self-referent upward counterfactual thinking and, in turn, reported lower levels of depression.
Conclusions: These findings indicate that self-compassion is associated with adaptive forms of counterfactual thinking, and that one way in which self-compassion conveys its beneficial influence on depression may be through its relationship with fewer self-referent upward counterfactual thoughts. This indirect effect suggests that self-compassion interventions may be especially beneficial to depression-vulnerable individuals who tend to generate self-referent upward counterfactuals.
Key Points
What is already known about this topic:
• (1)Consistently strong negative associations have been found between self-compassion and depressive symptoms.
• (2)Less is known about mechanisms that underlie this relationship.
• (3)Identified mediators include emotion regulation tendencies, positive future outlook, and cognitive processes such as automatic and repetitive thinking.
What this topic adds:
• (1)This study found that self-referent upward counterfactual thinking tendencies also mediate this association.
• (2)High levels of self-compassion were associated with adaptive counterfactual thinking (low levels of nonreferent, self-referent, and other-referent upward and high levels of downward).
• (3)These findings suggest that self-compassion interventions may be especially beneficial to depression-vulnerable individuals who tend to generate self-referent upward counterfactuals.
... Indeed, to minimize the risk of making a mistake is a significant category of procrastinating people [3]. Procrastination is considered mostly a way of collecting thoughts to avoid failure in everyday life [4]. By establishing more motivational behaviours than avoidance, less avoidable behaviour is employed [2]. ...
... In this way, academic procrastination serves as an ego defensive mechanism; therefore, it may be used frequently as a protective device by those with fragile self-esteem (Burka & Yuen, 1983). In this respect, numerous studies found a significant inverse relationship between procrastination and self-esteem (e.g., Ferrari, 1994;Uzun Ozer, Demir, & Harrington, 2012 such that low self-esteem and weak self-efficacy are related to frequent academic-related delays (Beck, Koons, & Milgrim, 2000;Ferrari, 1994;Sirois, 2004) whereby, feelings of worthlessness cause task avoidance that may result in failure (Ferrari, 2010). In this vein, the findings of the previous research demonstrate that student self-esteem may be a strong predictor of academic-related task delays and may serve a mediating role between academic procrastination and other variables. ...
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 measures. Results revealed that academic procrastination was negatively predicted by self-esteem, and self-control. Moreover, findings suggested that self-esteem mediated the association of academic procrastination with self-control. Results are discussed in terms of prevention and intervention implications.
... Behavioral procrastination is predominantly ubiquitous to us: the chronic procrastination is afflicting about 15-20% adults (Harriott et al. 1996); 70-80% of undergraduates report the premonitory symptoms of procrastination, and 20% of population do fall victim to procrastination in the academic achievements and social communication (Esteban and Ramírez 2014). In this vein, the procrastination admits to substantial maladies linking to awful consequences, such as the poor subjective well-beings (Steel 2007;Steel and Klingsieck 2016), deficient fitness (Sirois 2004;Steel and Ferrari 2013), volatile financial status (Ferrari et al. 1995;O'Donoghue and Rabin 1999), and even devastating public policies (Lynch and Zauberman 2006). ...
Globally, about 17% individuals are suffering from the maladaptive procrastination until now, which impacts individual's financial status, mental health, and even public policy. However, the comprehensive understanding of neuroanatomical understructure of procrastination still remains gap. 688 participants including 3 independent samples were recruited for this study. Brain morphological dynamics referred to the idiosyncrasies of both brain size and brain shape. Multilinear regression analysis was utilized to delineate brain morphological dynamics of procrastination in Sample 1. In the Sample 2, cross-validation was yielded. Finally, prediction models of machine learning were conducted in Sample 3. Procrastination had a significantly positive correlation with the gray matter volume (GMV) in the left insula, anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC), and parahippocampal gyrus (PHC) but was negatively correlated with GMV of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and gray matter density of ACC. Furthermore, procrastination was positively correlated to the cortical thickness and cortical complexity of bilateral orbital frontal cortex (OFC). In Sample 2, all the results were cross-validated highly. Predication analysis demonstrated that these brain morphological dynamic can predict procrastination with high accuracy. This study ascertained the brain morphological dynamics involving in self-control, emotion, and episodic prospection brain network for procrastination, which advanced promising aspects of the biomarkers for it.
... Regarding direct relations, as we predicted, increased acting with awareness and observing were significantly associated with decreased procrastination. Procrastination can be characterized as avoidance of unpleasant thoughts and feelings related to completing a requisite task (Sirois, 2004;Tice, Bratslavsky, & Baumeister, 2001). Accordingly, we suggest that acting with awareness promotes self-regulation of thoughts and emotions, as evidenced by the moderate correlation between acting with awareness and self-regulation capacity (see Table 1), and thereby reduces habitualized, automatic tendencies to procrastinate and facilitates monitoring and resisting impulses to procrastinate. ...
Procrastination is a commonly occurring phenomenon that can significantly impact a person’s well-being and physical health. A significant need exists to identify variables that confer risk or hold potential to treat procrastination. Thus, we aimed to (a) investigate the web of relations among procrastination, anxiety, and mindfulness and (b) explore the contribution of candidate variables of potential relevance beyond anxiety in predicting procrastination. To address our primary aim, we performed a structural equation model (SEM) analysis in a college sample (N = 801; male = 550, female = 246, other = 5) to investigate whether five facets of mindfulness (i.e., nonreactivity, nonjudging, observing, describing, and acting with awareness) attenuate procrastination via decreasing anxiety. Regarding indirect effects, anxiety mediated the relation between procrastination and all facets of mindfulness, except for observing. In terms of direct effects, greater acting with awareness and observing were most closely associated with lower procrastination. To explore our secondary aim, we used forward stepwise regression to investigate the unique contribution of variables of potential relevance beyond mindfulness and anxiety in predicting procrastination. This analysis revealed that anxiety, conscientiousness, behavioral avoidance, social desirability, neuroticism, and mindfulness significantly accounted for variance in procrastination while controlling for a variety of other variables (i.e., emotion dysregulation, depression, negative affect, and acceptance). Finally, we discuss (a) the implications of our findings for procrastination treatment, (b) the limitations of our study, and (c) future research directions.
... (6) Both procrastination and self-regulatory failure involve tendency to seek escape from unpleasant or stressful thoughts, feelings and actions. (7,8) Self-regulation enables an individual to monitor his own behavior in terms of internal and external standards and if any discrepancy is found leads him to modify his behavior towards betterment. (9) Selfregulation leads towards ability to initiate and maintain goal directed activity as well as generates persistence on tasks. ...
Background: Procrastination is a wide spread and deleterious form of self-regulatory failure that can have an impact on major areas of a person's life. A large number of research studies have been carried out internationally on procrastination, but in Pakistan they are negligible. As a very limited work is published on this topic, this area is carefully chosen as a research area in order to open new avenues for future research work. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship of self-regulation with procrastination.
... Procrastination refers to a delay to begin or to complete a task despite expecting negative consequences because of the delay (Klingsieck, 2013). Procrastination is associated with a number of negative consequences such as decreased academic performance (Kim & Seo, 2015;Macher et al., 2013), decreased productivity (Peper, Harvey, Lin, & Duvvuri, 2014), stress, exhaustion, and sleep-related problems as well as feelings of guilt, shame, and anxiety (Grunschel, Patrzek, & Fries, 2013;Scher & Osterman, 2002;Sirois, 2004;Tice & Baumeister, 1997). ...
The purpose of this study was to test three pathways from achievement goals to academic performance in statistics classes. Participants were 247 undergraduate students in psychology taking an introductory course on statistics. They completed questionnaires shortly after the mid-term, and their final grades were provided by their professors at the end of the semester. Structural equation modeling results reveal three distinct paths from achievement goals to academic performance. Results suggest that the more participants adopted mastery goals in the context of their statistics course, the less they experienced anxiety and the better they performed in the course at the end of the semester.
... Less efficacious individuals who received negative feedback tend to doubt their performing abilities more than usual and fall into irrational cognition (Steel, 2007) that brings them to the perception of being helpless [16] that eventually brought them to AP. Other studies reported that individuals who conceal their true performance abilities to secure their sense of self-worth are more likely to postpone to start or delays the completion of tasks [17]. In other words, procrastination acts as a self-handicapping strategies [18] or incubator for LH in some way [14]. ...
span lang="EN-US">This study aims to study the mediation role of locus of control on the impact of learned helplessness on students’ academic procrastination. Studies reported that more than 70% university students procrastinate, and one of the causes is the perception that one is vulnerable or helpless in finishing the procrastinate tasks. It was hypothesized that internal locus of control iLOC can reduce the effect if the learned helplessness (LH) on academic procrastination. Data was collected from 60 university students by utilizing instruments such as Duttweiller’s Internal Control Scale, Pure Procrastination Scale (adapted for academic setting) and Learned Helplessness Scale. Multiple regression with Process add-on showed that full mediation occurred; the prediction of LH on procrastination became insignificant when iLOC is controlled. In other words, when students believe that they are in control of their events, the less likely they will procrastinate doing their tasks due to helpless feeling.</span
... In such cases, the belief of being helpless -585 -dragged the individuals to the level where they believe that they are incapable of doing the task properly, yet they still try to cope with it; hence the procrastination (Abbasi & Alghamdi, 2015). At the same tone, another study reported that individuals who conceal their true performance abilities to secure their sense of self-worth are more likely to postpone to start or delays the completion of tasks (Sirois, 2004). In other words, academic procrastination might also serve as a strategy to cope with the learned helplessness, as a better alternative than totally abandoning the academic tasks. ...
Introducción. Estudios previos indicaron que más del 70% de los estudiantes universitarios cometieron demoras académicas, y uno de los factores más destacados es la indepensión aprendida, la percepción de que uno es incapaz de terminar bien las tareas. También se planteó la hipótesis de que cuando los estudiantes creen que tienen el control de sus propios eventos, su indefensión aprendida no predecirá de manera significativa su dilación académica. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo probar la hipótesis de si el “lugar interno de control” media la relación entre la indefensión aprendida y la dilación académica entre los estudiantes universitarios.Método. Un total de 240 estudiantes universitarios fueron reclutados al azar para participar en este estudio actual. Se utiñizó la Escala de Control Interno de Duttweiller para medir el locus de control interno; la Escala de Procrastinación Pura (adaptada para el entorno académico) se usó para medir el nivel de dilación académico; y la Escala de Indefensión Aprendida se usó para medir el nivel de desamparo aprendido entre los participantes. Se utilizó regresión múltiple con macros de PROCESO para analizar los datos.Resultados Los resultados indicaron que la indefensión aprendida predijo significativamente el locus interno de control, y que el locus interno de control fue un predictor significativo de la dilación académica. Estos resultados apoyan la hipótesis mediacional. La indefensión aprendida ya no era un predictor significativo de la dilación académica después de controlar el locus de control interno, consistente con la mediación completa. Aproximadamente el 21% de la variación en la dilación académica puede explicarse por los predictores. El coeficiente indirecto fue significativo. La indefensión aprendida se asoció con aproximadamente .15 puntos más altos de puntuación de procrastinación académica mediada por el locus de control internoDiscusión y conclusión. El locus de control interno media completamente la influencia de la indefensión aprendida en la dilación académica. En otras palabras, cuando los estudiantes creen que tienen el control de sus eventos, es menos probable que pospongan sus tareas debido a la impotencia que han aprendido. Los hallazgos de este estudio sugirieron que la postergación en el entorno académico se produjo debido a la percepción de indefensión que se ha aprendido a lo largo del tiempo; sin embargo, la influencia no será tan deteriorada hacia los estudiantes cuando crean que son responsables y tienen el control de sus eventos.
... Research has also shown that anticipating regret about a risky decision leads decision-makers to avoid taking that risk (Li et al., 2010). Similarly, procrastination has been found to be related to thoughts about how things could have gone better (Sirois, 2004). In the context of ambivalence it has been argued that when a decision is imminent, the first inclination of ambivalent attitude holders is also to procrastinate (Van Harreveld, . ...
Theoretical work on attitudinal ambivalence suggests that anticipated regret may play a role in causing awareness of contradictions that subsequently induce a feeling of an evaluative conflict. In the present paper we empirically examined how the anticipation of regret relates to the association between the simultaneous presence of contradictory cognitions and emotions (objective ambivalence), and the evaluative conflict associated with it (subjective ambivalence), in the context of decision-making. Across three studies (Ns = 204,127,244), manipulating both objective ambivalence and regret, we consistently found that when a dichotomous ambivalent choice had to be made, (objectively) ambivalent attitude holders for whom feelings of anticipated regret were made salient reported higher levels of subjective-attitude ambivalence than participants in the other conditions. Moreover, in Studies 2 and 3 we found that the effect of anticipated regret on subjective ambivalence had consequences on information processing. Specifically, anticipating regret made ambivalent participants search for attitude-congruent information. This effect was mediated by the increase in subjective ambivalence. This work provides the first empirical evidence for the role of regret in the association between objective-and- subjective attitude ambivalence, and its consequences.
... Procrastination, as Steel (2007) reviewed, is the phenomenon that individuals are ''to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay". As a result, this self-regulatory failure leads procrastinators to have lower levels of health, wealth, and well-being (Sirois, 2004;Steel, 2007). Impulsivity is a predisposition toward rash, unplanned reactions to stimuli regardless of the negative consequences of these reactions to impulsive individuals or to others (Fischer et al., 2008;Moeller et al., 2001). ...
Procrastination is a prevalent problematic behavior that brings serious consequences, such as lower levels of health, wealth, and well-being. Previous research have verified that impulsivity is one of the traits most strongly correlated with procrastination. However, little is known about why there is a tight behavioral relationship between them. To address this question, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to explore the common neural substrates between procrastination and impulsivity. In line with previous findings, the behavioral results showed a strong behavioral correlation between procrastination and impulsivity. Neuroimaging results showed impulsivity and procrastination shared the common neurobiological underpinnings in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) based on the data from 85 participants (sample 1). Furthermore, the mediation analysis revealed that impulsivity mediated the impact of gray matter (GM) volumes of this overlapping region in the DLPFC on procrastination on another independent 84 participants’ data (sample 2). In conclusion, the overlapping brain region in the DLPFC would be responsible for the close relationship between procrastination and impulsivity. As a whole, the present study extends our knowledge on procrastination, and provides a novel perspective to explain the tight impulsivity - procrastination relationship.
... Yapılan çalışmalar da; akademik erteleme ve genel erteleme davranışı ile benlik saygısı arasında düşük düzeyde olmakla birlikte negatif ve anlamlı bir ilişki olduğu belirtilmiştir (Çakıcı, 2003;1994, Owens ve Newbegin, 1997Yorulmaz, 2003;Solomon ve Rothblum, 1984, Sirois, 2004. Erteleme davranışı, kişinin benlik saygısını korumak amacıyla başvurmuş olduğu bir durumdur. ...
The purpose of the present study was to examine the interplay between academic procrastination, self-esteem, state anxiety and self-efficacy of the 11th grade high school students who are getting prepared for the University Entry Exam. Particapants were 400 students (220 female, 180 male) that were chosen randomly in Konya province. Academic Procrastination Behavior Scale (APBS), Academic Self-Efficacy (ASES), Coopersmith Self-Esteem Scale (CSES), Spielberg State Anxiety Inventory (SSAI) was used. Pearson Moments Correlation, multiple regression analyze, F-test and t-test was used to analyze data. According to the result, while low self-esteem significantly explains academic procrastination, state anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs don’t explain academic procrastination. High academic procrastinators and middle level procrastinators have more state anxiety than low academic procrastinators. Also male students are more inclined to academic procrastination than female students.
... A previous study involving a negative mood induction indicated that participants preparing for a math test engaged in higher levels of procrastination if alternative options were viewed as enjoyable (e.g., video games) compared to those viewed as boring (e.g., preschool-level video games; Tice et al. 2001). Thus, procrastination and task avoidance may be viewed as a method to cope with negative moods and to escape or avoid unpleasant feelings (Sirois 2004;Tice and Bratslavsky 2000;Tice et al. 2001). Consistent with this notion, recent evidence suggests that a subgroup of procrastinators is characterized by poor emotion regulation, and may prioritize the management of aversive mood states over goal pursuit (Rebetez et al. 2015). ...
Procrastination is prevalent among students and is associated with negative outcomes, including poor academic performance and psychological distress. Research also suggests that anxiety and depression can exacerbate procrastination; however, the mechanisms associated with the development of procrastination are less understood. The current study aimed to clarify the role of negative repetitive thought (i.e., rumination and worry) in the links between anxiety and procrastination, and depression and procrastination. Ninety-one undergraduate students completed self-report measures of anxiety, depression, worry, brooding rumination, and procrastination, and two multiple mediator models were tested. Procrastination was positively correlated with the study variables, including medium effects for anxiety and depression, a large effect for rumination, and a small effect for worry. Rumination independently mediated the relationships between anxiety and procrastination, and depression and procrastination. Worry did not independently mediate these relationships. The current findings suggest rumination plays a larger role in the links between anxiety, depression, and procrastination than worry. Thus, students with higher levels of anxiety and depression engage in more negative repetitive thought, which may contribute to procrastinatory behavior as a result of a preoccupation with depressing or painful thoughts about the past.
... This account of the role of negative self-evaluations in the expectancy-assessment process and subsequent self-regulation failure dovetails with the emotion regulation models of procrastination (Pychyl & Sirois, 2016;Sirois & Pychyl, 2013), and with the proposed associations between negative affect and end-state thinking in perfectionistic concerns (Flett, Hewitt, Blankstein, & Gray, 1998;Sirois et al., 2010). For the chronic procrastinator, activation of negative self-evaluations that increase negative affect can also trigger avoidant responses to the goal as a means of reducing mood and protecting self-esteem (Pychyl & Sirois, 2016;Sirois, 2004a;Sirois & Pychyl, 2013). For individuals high in perfectionistic concerns, negative affect arising from the expectancy-assessment process may activate ruminative brooding and end-state thinking that shifts focus to the negative feelings surrounding the goal rather than to ways of taking instrumental action to attain the goal (Flett et al., 1998;Flett, Hewitt, & Nepon, 2016;L. ...
Abstract
The equivocal and debated findings from a 2007 meta-analysis, which viewed perfectionism as a unidimensional construct, suggested that perfectionism was unrelated to procrastination. The present meta-analysis aimed to provide a conceptual update and re-analysis of the procrastination-perfectionism association guided by both a multi-dimensional view of perfectionism and self-regulation theory. The random effects meta-analyses revealed a small-to-medium, positive average effect size (r = .23; k = 43, N = 10,000; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) [0.19, 0.27]) for trait procrastination and perfectionistic concerns, and a small-to-medium, negative average effect size (r = -.22; k = 38, N = 9,544; 95% CI: [-0.26, -0.18]) for procrastination and perfectionistic strivings. The average correlations remained significant after statistically accounting for the joint variance between the two perfectionism dimensions via semi-partial correlations. For perfectionistic concerns, but not perfectionistic strivings, the effects depended on the perfectionism measure used. All effects did not vary by the trait procrastination measure used or the respondent’s sex. Our findings confirm that from a multi-dimensional perspective, trait procrastination is both positively and negatively associated with higher order perfectionism dimensions, and further highlight the value of a self-regulation perspective for understanding the cognitive, affective, and behavioural dynamics that characterise these traits.
... Even other factors such as shame coping style [15,16,117], socio-demographic conditions [118], childhood abuse [119] and lack of employment [120], causing an inactive phenotype should be considered just part of the aetiological factors leading to NPBS. ...
... As a result, these individuals may actually experience reduced perceptions of control about future situations. In addition to depression, procrastination tendencies and perfectionism are two other personal attributes that have been linked to maladaptive counterfactual thinking; specifically, procrastinators have a tendency to engage in downward counterfactuals which are less conducive to behavioral change (Sirois, 2004). For perfectionists, due to their excessive preoccupation with outcome quality, counterfactual thinking generation actually increases their distress (Sirois, Monforton, & Simpson, 2010). ...
Counterfactual thinking is the process of mentally undoing the outcome of an event by imagining alternate antecedent states. For example, one might think that if they had given up smoking earlier, their health would be better. Counterfactuals are more frequent following negative events than positive events. Counterfactuals have both aversive and beneficial consequences for the individual. On the one hand, individuals who engage in counterfactual thinking experience negative affect and are prone to biased judgment and decision making. On the other hand, counterfactuals serve a preparative function and they help people reach their goals in the future by suggesting effective behavioral alternatives.
Counterfactual thoughts have been found to influence an array of cognitive processes. Engaging in counterfactual thinking motivates careful, in-depth information processing, increases perceptions of self-efficacy and control, influences attitudes toward social matters, with consequences for behavioral intentions and subsequent behaviors. Though a heavily studied matter in some domains of the social sciences (e.g., psychology, political sciences, decision making), counterfactual thinking has received less attention in the communication discipline. Findings from the few studies conducted in communication suggest that counterfactual thinking is a promising message design strategy in risk and health contexts. Still, research in this area is critically needed and it represents an opportunity to expand our knowledge.
... have a great deal in common with strategies found to reduce cognitive dissonance (eg, Gosling, Denizeau, & Oberlé, 2006; see also Little & Pychyl, 2015;Sirois, 2004). In their pioneering work on neutralization theory, for example, criminologists Sykes and Matza identified five techniques that criminals uses to "neutralize" their actions: denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of victim, condemning the condemners, and appeal to higher loyalties. ...
Using John Perry's notion of "structured procrastination" as a foil, I developed a definition of procrastination as "culpably unwarranted delay," that is, as choosing to put a task off to a later point in time, even though there are overridingly good reasons not to put things off, and there are no circumstances that excuse one either for failing to appreciate these reasons or for failing to act. Emphasizing the mens rea character of procrastination, I then analyze how self-licensing and neutralization techniques facilitate procrastination, as self-indulgent attempts to protect one's positive self-appraisal by reconstruing one's delay as unproblematic. Building on my earlier work on the extended will, I then outline several strategies for reducing procrastination by establishing structures that counteract one's temptation to engage in self-indulgent reconstruals of one's procrastination. By developing scaffolding for the attention, motivation, and judgment needed for resisting the temptation to engage in self-indulgent reconstrual of one's unwarranted delay, it becomes possible to move from structured procrastination to structured nonprocrastination.
... Negative attitude toward shopping (Darpy, 2000), high deadline (Ferrari, 1993;Putsis and Srinavasan, 1994;Dhar and Nowlis, 1999;Darpy, 1997Darpy, , 1999Darpy, , 2000Darpy, , 2002 and perceived risk (Greenleaf and Lehmann, 1995) are the most relevant situational predictors of consumer procrastination. Chronic purchase delay is associated to several cognitive, affective and behavioral factors (Darpy, 2000;Free andTangney, 2000, Ackerman andGross, 2005) : low self-esteem (Burka and yuen, 1983;Ferrari, 1991;Beswick and Mann, 1994;Bandura, 1997;Darpy, 1999;Judge and Bono, 2001;Steel, 2003;Sirois, 2004), sensation seeking (Burka and Yuen, 1983;Ferrari, 1993), anxiety (Blatt and Quinn, 1967;Burka and Yuen, 1983;Lay and Silverman, 1996), fear of failure (Burka and Yuen, 1983;Schouwenburg, 1992), perfectionism (Ferrari, 1992a;Darpy, 1997;Marano, 2006), locus of control (Beswick and Mann, 1994;Steel, 2003), price consciousness (Hamelin, 2003), daydreaming (Lay, 1986;Harriott and al., 1996;Darpy, 1997; and hesitation (Darpy, 1999;Steel, 2003). ...
... Thirdly, research by Segerstrom, Stanton, Alden, and Shortridge (2003) has shown that divergent thought processes, such as exploring, considering possibilities, or expressing confusion, are associated with more positive outcomes than convergent thought processes, such as trying to narrow down options, ensuring the certainty of a specific event, making plans or declaring a specific piece of knowledge. Finally, research on counterfactual thinking has linked both upward comparisons between an actual and alternative situation (e.g., 'It could have gone better') and downward comparisons between an actual and alternative situation (e.g., 'It could have gone worse') to negative outcomes (e.g., Mandel, 2003;Sirois, 2004). However, upward comparisons have also been linked to a variety of positive outcomes (e.g., Nasco & Marsh, 1999;Roese, 1994). ...
This article presents a measure of individual differences in the tendencies to worry constructively and unconstructively, called the Constructive and Unconstructive Worry Questionnaire (CUWQ). The measure is based on a control theory perspective of worry and separates the tendency to worry in a way that facilitates goal-pursuit and threat reduction (constructive worry) from the tendency to worry in a way that hinders goal-pursuit while sustaining threat awareness (unconstructive worry). CUWQ scores were validated in 2 independent nonclinical samples, including North American (Sample 1, N = 295) and Australian (Sample 2, N = 998) residents. Final factor items were selected based on Sample 1, and the measure showed good model fit through a confirmatory factor analysis in Sample 2. In addition, scores on the 2 worry factors showed criterion-related validity by statistically predicting a variety of outcomes in both samples: Constructive worry was positively associated with punctuality and wildfire preparedness and negatively associated with trait-anxiety and amount of worry. Unconstructive worry, on the other hand, was positively associated with trait-anxiety and amount of worry, and negatively associated with punctuality and wildfire preparedness. The 2 factor scores were uncorrelated in Sample 1 and positively correlated in Sample 2, thereby showing that having a tendency to worry in an unconstructive manner does not prohibit 1 from worrying in a constructive manner as well. Understanding how the 2 tendencies to worry differ from each other and separating their measurement enables a better understanding of the role of worry in both normal behavior and psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record
... On the one hand, some studies suggest that self-forgiveness may be deemed negative in some respects. For example, it may be related to narcissism and self-excusing (Sirois, 2004;Strelan, 2007;Tangney, Boone & Dearing, 2005). Furthermore, Vitz and Meade (2011) suggested that self-forgiveness might also be involved in the psychological problems that comprise "splitting the self," creating various problems such as a conflict of interest between the self that judges and the self that is judged. ...
Purpose
This study aimed to test the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a measure of self-forgiveness response biases related to emotional reactions and expected outcomes in everyday life. Unlike previous IRAPs, the stimuli were individualized in that they were based on “problematic” and “non-problematic” behaviors (e.g., procrastination vs. keeping deadlines) that each participant reported at the beginning of the study.
Method
Specifically, participants completed two IRAPs. One (the Feelings IRAP) targeted negative and positive feelings experienced while engaging in problematic versus nonproblematic behavior. The other (the Outcomes IRAP) targeted positive and negative outcomes believed to result from this behavior. Participants also completed standardized measures of psychological suffering and self-compassion as well as a questionnaire that targeted the behavior and reactions presented in the IRAPs.
Results
While both IRAPs produced response biases that indicated that positive feelings and outcomes were related to nonproblematic behavior, neither produced clear evidence that negative feelings or outcomes were related to problematic behavior. Furthermore, specific response biases on the IRAP (i.e., a tendency to confirm that negative actions lead to negative outcomes) correlated with psychological suffering, particularly depression and stress.
Conclusion
The findings suggest that individualized IRAPs, even those that target minor problematic behavior, may be predictive of psychological suffering.
... Although some present-focused mindsets such as mindfulness may facilitate self-regulation (Evans, Baer, & Segerstrom, 2009), there is evidence that the present-focused mindset associated with procrastination promotes being ''lost in the moment'' and ''giving into feel good'' in a way that can derail rather than enhance self-regulation (Sirois & Tosti, 2012;Tice & Bratslavsky, 2000). These investigations converge with other research demonstrating that procrastination is associated with avoidant cognitive tendencies that promote immediate mood regulation at the expense of goal-oriented thinking (Sirois, 2004). ...
Mood-repair conceptualizations of procrastination suggest that regulation of immediate mood is prioritized over instrumental action towards goals. The aim of the current research was to examine how and why absorption - a mindset reflecting a responsiveness to engaging stimuli – may account for procrastinators’ tendency to focus on immediately rewarding activities at the cost of their long term goals, and the cognitive implications of being absorbed in the moment. Across two student samples (Study 1: N = 103; Study 2: N =339) procrastination was associated with absorption. A bootstrapping analysis of the indirect effects of procrastination on absorption through state anxiety in Study 1 was significant supporting the hypothesized role of absorption as a vulnerability towards mood-regulating distractions for procrastinators. In Study 2 small but significant indirect effects of procrastination on cognitive failures through absorption emerged, supporting the proposition that absorption may have a cognitive toll for procrastinators. Taken together, these findings suggest a cognitive escape hypothesis to explain how procrastinators deal with negative moods, and provides new insights into the factors and processes that contribute to the self-regulation difficulties that characterize trait procrastination.
... For example, students could procrastinate on checking their grade online or they could delay the decision to sign up for a repetition class to take an exam for the second time. In a study with psychology students, Sirois (2004) showed that procrastination was related to downward counterfactual thinking. Students who found themselves in an anxiety-provoking situation were more likely to procrastinate and, moreover, to avoid thoughts about ways in which things could have been better. ...
Procrastination, defined as the subjectively aversive inability to initiate or complete the pursuit of a given goal, is a common phenomenon in academic contexts. This theoretical paper presents a dynamic model that centers on the role of goal focus in influencing procrastination during goal pursuit. Our central hypothesis is that focusing on the means of goal pursuit (i.e., adopting a process focus) reduces procrastination, particularly when fear of failure is high. Focusing on the means should decrease the salience of performance outcomes and thereby reduce fear of failure. This, in turn, should facilitate the initiation and maintenance of goal pursuit. In contrast, when means are perceived as unpleasant (high task aversiveness), focusing more on the outcome of goal pursuit (i.e., adopting an outcome focus) should reduce procrastination by directing attention away from the means while highlighting the importance of goal achievement. Furthermore, the model takes account of dynamic contextual factors, particularly the distance to a given deadline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
Procrastination is the volitional delay of an intended task, despite believing that delay will be harmful. While not all delay is attributable to procrastination, procrastination is fundamentally characterised by delay. As much as 90% of the population have experience with procrastination, with around 20% in the general population and 50% of university students reporting problematic levels of chronic procrastination. Compared to their non-procrastinating peers, chronic procrastinators report lower levels of wellbeing, higher rates of depression, higher rates of alcohol and other drug use for coping, and poor health adjustment. Procrastinators tend to have lower salaries, shorter durations of employment, and a greater likelihood of being unemployed or underemployed. There is also a direct economic impact on the workforce, with office workers found to spend an average of 1.5 hours per work day procrastinating.
Despite its prevalence, the variability of tasks, time available, subjectivity, and individual differences render procrastination difficult to observe as it happens. Consequently, while correlates, antecedents, effects, and types of procrastination have been widely investigated, progress in this field is limited by several factors. In particular, few studies have accurately quantified delay associated with procrastination over time. As a consequence, there is limited evidence supporting the ability of trait measures of procrastination to predict delay, and few interventions aimed at reducing procrastination have been clearly associated with reduced delay. Recent developments in smartphone technology and Experience Sampling Method (ESM) applications have enabled intensive longitudinal observations of such dynamic phenomena with relative ease; however, such methodology and statistical modelling of delay have yet to be reliably applied to the study of procrastination.
To address the challenge of observing delay associated with procrastination, I conducted three studies of students enrolled in a 1st year psychology course: a small pilot study (N = 24) and two larger scale replications (Ns = 80 and 107) focusing on intensive longitudinal measurement of delay, procrastination scale validation, and an intervention to reduce procrastination respectively. Participant ages ranged from 17.38 to 65.85 years (M = 23.85, SD = 9.49) and 75% identified as female. Each study included a baseline survey of demographic and trait procrastination and personality variables, an ESM phase comprised of 28 SMS surveys over 14 days in the lead-up to submission of an assignment worth 30% of the course grade, and the collection of assignment submission date and mark from the course convenor. Participants in the ESM phase were randomly allocated into either an intervention or control condition, with participants in both conditions reporting their assignment progress, completion intent, and affect regarding their assignment progress. Participants in the intervention, but not the control, condition were messaged at the end of each ESM survey with open reflection prompts designed to reduce procrastination. Studies 1 and 3 also included follow up interviews with a small subsample of participants (N = 8) to garner first-hand perspectives of participation in the ESM component of the studies.
Through the application of multilevel model analyses, the presence of quantified delay curves in all three studies provides firm evidence that regular self-reporting of task progress using ESM is a robust and reliable method for measuring behavioural delay. The use of multilevel modelling in quantifying delay enabled the inclusion of mixed effects, where the predictive ability of several procrastination scales could be assessed. A trait measure of passive procrastination was found to reliably predict behavioural delay, whereas no association was found between a measure of active procrastination, a type of procrastination purported to be adaptive and deliberate, and delay. The intervention prompting regular reflection on factors thought to be related to procrastination that was embedded into the ESM phase of each study was found to significantly reduce delay in Studies 1 and 3, but not in Study 2. Between-study differences in this intervention effect were likely related to contextual differences as participants in Study 2 were aware that the research pertained to procrastination whereas those in the other studies were not informed of the focus on procrastination. In the follow-up interviews, participants reported that regularly reporting task progress, as well as the intervention reflection prompts, may have assisted with the reduction of procrastination. Analyses conducted into the relationships between trait procrastination, neuroticism, and state affect and delay revealed that neuroticism (emotional stability) moderated the relationship between trait procrastination and affect, and affect mediated the relationship between trait procrastination and task delay. Moreover, cross-lagged panel model analyses of inter-temporal changes in affect and delay showed that participants who reported greater task progress at an earlier time were likely to report higher positive affect at a subsequent time, whereas those reporting higher positive affect at an earlier time tended to report lower progress at a subsequent time.
Overall, the research offers three specific unique contributions to the body of knowledge. First, the use of ESM surveys of task progress is demonstrated to be a reliable method for measuring behavioural delay associated with procrastination. This is evidenced by the presence of accelerating delay curves, where assignment progress increases in a hyperbolic trajectory prior to a submission date. The reliable observation and modelling of delay is an oft-cited limitation of the field; thus, the replicated validation of this as a reliable method constitutes a valuable contribution. Second, multilevel mixed effects modelling is used to assess the ability of scales measuring different aspects of trait procrastination to predict behavioural delay, indicating that some trait procrastination measures are more predictive of behaviour than are others. The statistical method employed, and the use of task progress rather than study duration as the outcome, enabled the construct validity of the contentious ‘active’ form of procrastination to be challenged. This approach is proposed also to be a suitable method for assessing the behavioural efficacy of targeted interventions for reducing procrastination. Third, sending regular reflection prompts to randomly selected ESM recipients resulted in a significant reduction in behavioural delay in two of the three studies. This use of low-intensity reflection prompts delivered at a high frequency demonstrates smartphone use can be an effective medium for reducing procrastination without the need for intensive approaches requiring considerable commitment from both practitioners and participants. This intervention design sets an example for reducing delay in academia, with the method likely capable of being extended, with adaptation, to procrastination in other areas such as health behaviour change, personal finance, and collective action.
La procrastinación es un comportamiento común en el ámbito académico asociado a diversas consecuencias negativas. La autoestima, entendida como una actitud global hacia uno mismo, es una de las variables que se ha asociado con la procrastinación académica. El objetivo del presente trabajo es examinar mediante técnicas meta-analíticas la relación entre la autoestima y la procrastinación en estudiantes. Se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica en las bases de datos PsycInfo, Scopus y PubMed de la investigación sobre las variables de interés publicada desde el año 2000. Se analizaron un total de 35 estudios independientes pertenecientes a 33 artículos que cumplían los criterios de inclusión. La muestra total estaba compuesta por 13,233 participantes. Los resultados muestran una relación negativa de intensidad media entre la autoestima y la procrastinación en estudiantes, por lo que aquellos estudiantes que muestran una menor autoestima presentan una mayor procrastinación. Los análisis de meta-regresión mostraron que la edad media y el sexo no son variables moderadoras estadísticamente significativas; mientras que el análisis de subgrupos tampoco muestra que el nivel educativo modere el tamaño del efecto. No se aprecia la presencia de sesgo de publicación. Se comentan las implicaciones y las limitaciones del trabajo. Se señala la pertenencia de implementar programas para aumentar la autoestima de los estudiantes.
More than 15% of adults suffer from pathological procrastination, which leads to substantial harm to their mental and psychiatric health. Our previous work demonstrated the role of three neuroanatomical networks as neural substrates of procrastination, but their potential interaction remains unknown. Three large-scale independent samples (total n = 901) were recruited. In sample A, tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and connectome-based graph-theoretical analysis was conducted to probe association between topological properties of white matter (WM) network and procrastination. In sample B, the above analysis was reproduced to demonstrate replicability. In sample C, machine learning models were built to predict individual procrastination. TBSS results showed a negative association between procrastination and WM integrity of limbic-prefrontal connection, and a positive relationship between intra-connection within the limbic system and procrastination. Also, both the efficiency and integrity of limbic WM network were found to be linked to procrastination. The above findings were all confirmed to replicate in an independent sample; prediction models demonstrated that these WM features can predict procrastination accurately in sample C. In conclusion, this study moves forward our understanding of procrastination by clarifying the role of interplay of self-control and emotional regulation with it.
Despite extensive evidence that time perspective is associated with a range of important outcomes across a variety of life domains (e.g., health, education, wealth), the question of why time perspective has such wide-reaching effects remains unknown. The present review proposes that self-regulatory processes can offer insight into why time perspective is linked to outcomes. To test this idea we classified measures of time perspective according to the dimension of time perspective that they reflected (e.g., past, present-hedonistic, future) and measures of self-regulation according to the self-regulatory process (i.e., goal setting, goal monitoring, and goal operating), ability, or outcome that they reflected. A systematic search identified 378 studies, reporting 2,000 independent tests of the associations between measures of time perspective and self-regulation. Random-effects meta-analyses with robust variance estimation found that a future time perspective had small-to-medium-sized positive associations with goal setting (r+ = 0.25), goal monitoring (r+ = 0.19), goal operating (r+ = 0.32), self-regulatory ability (r+ = 0.35), and outcomes (r+ = 0.16). Present time perspective, including being present-hedonistic and present-fatalistic, was negatively associated with self-regulatory processes, ability, and outcomes (r+ ranged from -0.00 to -0.27). Meta-analytic structural equation models found that the relationship between future time perspective and outcomes was mediated by goal monitoring, goal operating, and self-regulatory ability, but not goal setting. As the first test of why time perspective is associated with key outcomes, the findings highlight the central role of self-regulation processes and abilities for understanding why people with certain time perspectives experience better outcomes.
The study investigated the influence of organizational culture, self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-regulation on indulgence in procrastination. It utilized a correlational survey design involving two hundred and forty two sampled male (1l4) and female (128) civil servants in lbadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Data were collected from the sample using five scales. All the scales were re-validated. Four hypotheses were tested. The results of correlation analyses showed both age and marital status fwd significant negative relationship with procrastination. Likewise, significant negative relationship existed between marital status and indulgence in procrastination and between work experience and indulgence in procrastination. Further; the results of multiple regression analysis revealed that organizational culture, self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-regulation jointly predicted indulgence in procrastination' and that only self-esteem independently predicted procrastination. The results of analyses of variance showed that both self-esteem and self-regulation had significant independent main effect on indulgence in procrastination. The t-test analysis result indicated that organizational culture fwd significant influence on indulgence in procrastination. The findings imply that organizational culture, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-regulation are significant predictors of indulgence in procrastinating behaviour among civil servants in Oyo state. The paper recommends that employers of labour should take cognizance of these predictors in their intervention programs to boost employees' productivity and reduce indulgence in procrastination.
Core family support is one of the external factors that affect students. Each form of family support has aspects including informative, emotional attention, instrumental assistance and assessment assistance. Students are expected to maintain communication with the nuclear family, in order to continue to get support from the nuclear family. The role of the nuclear family as controls, mentors, regulators and supervisors cannot be immediately erased or eliminated just to be independent or free of expression. In procrastination, it is a student's behavior that is not uncommonly realized but is still being lived out, procrastination makes us think irrationally in a conscious state and looks natural by the surrounding environment. Social support, especially core family support is needed to help the student concerned avoid procrastination. This research was conducted with quantitative research with the technique ofcorrelation analysis product moment. From the results of the analysis shows the direction of the relationship between core family support and academic procrastination, while the value of p <0.01 in Sig. (2-tailed) shows that there is a relationship between core family support and student academic procrastination.
Procrastination has gained relevance over the years for its effects on education, health, and daily life in general. However, despite its importance, it has not been studied systematically. We examined the effect of response cost on procrastination in humans. Twelve engineering undergraduate students, between 18 and 20 years of age, were randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group. The task consisted in indicating by clicking one of two buttons whether the amount of green dots presented on the computer screen was larger or smaller than the amount of blue dots. Throughout the experiment, participants were allowed to engage in distracting activities while performing the task. Three response cost conditions comprised the experiment, one with a high response cost (200 exercises) and two with a low response cost (100 exercises). There does not seem to be a systematic effect of response requirement on procrastination. However, some participants procrastinated regardless of the condition to which they were exposed, whereas others never did it, which suggests that procrastination is an interactive style. We discuss the need for more studies in order to identify the variables related to the phenomenon.
Keywords: procrastination, response cost, distractors, interactive style, undergraduate students.
In this chapter, we explore how procrastination functions as an emotion-regulation strategy that provides short-term mood repair. We begin by explaining the link between emotion regulation and procrastination, drawing on more general research on self-regulation that demonstrates how regulating moods and feeling states can lead to a failure of self-control. Here we explain how, when faced with aversive tasks, the priority of mood repair results in the task avoidance we label procrastination. Having established the link between emotion regulation and procrastination, we then turn to the rapidly expanding research literature on emotion regulation with a particular emphasis on the conceptual frameworks developed by Gross (2013, 2014) and Koole (2009). We summarize how both process and function perspectives allow us to understand why it is that the present self engages in self-defeating delay at the expense of the future self. Situating procrastination as a form of emotion regulation that provides a short-term hedonic shift helps us to understand the paradoxical conflict between the present self and the future self when we procrastinate. Based on this emotion-regulation perspective, we then discuss avenues for future research with a focus on well-being and health.
University life and emerging adulthood are potentially associated with several stressors negatively affecting students’ health and well-being. This chapter focuses on university students’ psychological characteristics and examines the link between procrastination, dysfunctional health behaviors and well-being both theoretically and empirically, presenting data from 141 Greek university students. Participants completed the Greek versions of Lay’s (1986) General Procrastination scale and Dlugosch & Krieger’s (1995) Inventory for the Investigation of Behavior in Health Related Issues. Results revealed that procrastination was unrelated to the frequency of health behaviors. Nevertheless, procrastinators’s degree of knowledge regarding illnesses caused by deficient health care was less accurate. Procrastinators were also more likely to experience dissatisfaction with their health behaviors, which didn’t however increase their wish to change. Finally, they perceived less internal barriers to adopt a healthier life-style, while they relied less on external help to change. Findings could potentially inform policies aiming to protect students’ health and well-being.
Key words: procrastination, health behaviors, students, emerging adulthood, well-being
This study aims to investigate some antecedents of procrastination behaviors of employees. Within the literature, studies suggest that some individual factors lead employees to procrastinate their jobs at another time. Therefore, big five personality characteristics, self-esteem and self-efficacy are considered as predictors of procrastination behaviors within the scope of the study. For this purpose, the data which were collected from 300 employees from hospitals by the survey method were analyzed using the structural equation modelling. The results of the study indicate that two personality characteristics of big five which are addressed as conscientiousness and neuroticism have a significant effect on procrastination behaviors of employees. In other words, while employees' conscientiousness level has a negative effect on procrastination behavior; neuroticism level has a positive effect on procrastination behavior. However, extraversion and agreeableness have no significant effect on procrastination behavior. In addition, employees' self-esteem levels have a positive and significant effect on procrastination behavior; whereas self-efficacy beliefs have negative and significant effect on procrastination behavior.
Procrastination is a common self-regulatory problem involving the unnecessary delay of important intended tasks. Procrastination can take a toll on mental and physical well-being. In this article, we summarize the correlates, causes, and consequences of procrastination, and present the latest theory and research that explains why people procrastinate. We also outline individual differences associated with this form of self-regulation failure and discuss current approaches for reducing procrastination.
En este trabajo se explican aspectos fundamentales del contrafactual, como sus funciones en el razonamiento causal, en la argumentación científica, en la modulación y amplificación de las emociones. También se describen los diversos tipos de contrafactuales y las diferencias individuales en la producción y comprensión de éstos. Posteriormente, se explican las principales teorías e investigaciones que han planteado el tema del significado dual del contrafactual: los modelos mentales, las teorías proposicionales del razonamiento o la teoría suposicional. Finalmente, se dedica especial atención a las pocas investigaciones que se han realizado en el campo de la psicolingística sobre la comprensión de contrafactuales. Palabras clave: contrafactuales, comprensión del lenguaje, modelos mentales, teorías proposicionales, teoría de la mente. The current study explores some fundamental aspects of counterfactuals, such us their functions in causal reasoning, scientific argument, and modulation and amplification of emotions. This study also describes the various types of counterfactuals, and the individual differences in their production and comprehension. Subsequently, the main theories and researches related to the dual meaning of counterfactuals were carried out, for example, mental models, propositional reasoning theories, or suppositional theory. Finally, special attention was given to the few investigations that have been made in the field of psycholinguistics, concerned with the comprehension of counterfactuals.
We investigated the mediating role of global self-esteem in the relationship between general self-efficacy and general procrastination among a sample of 304 Chinese undergraduate students. An online survey method was employed for data collection and willing participants completed an online survey consisting of the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Aitken Procrastination Inventory. The results showed that procrastination was negatively related to self-efficacy and self-esteem, and that self-efficacy was positively correlated with self-esteem. Mediation analysis revealed that self-esteem completely mediated the effect of self-efficacy on procrastination. Thus, we suggest that general self-efficacy decreases general procrastination because high self-efficacy fosters high self-esteem. As a result, it is necessary for preventive therapy in the context of procrastination to be focused on the enhancement of self-efficacy in order to cultivate a sense of self-worth in Chinese undergraduate student procrastinators.
The present study examined the relationship between two types of chronic procrastination and 12 varied life domains in which individuals report regret. Subjects were 2,887 adults (1,776 women and 1,111 men; M age = 38.63 years; SD = 14.35) from across the United States. Initially, pure arousal (n = 386), avoidant (n = 220), and nonprocrastinators (n = 215) were identified. Results found that nonprocrastinators reported significantly less regret than both avoidant and arousal procrastinators in domains of education pursuits, parenting, family and friend interactions, health and wellness, and financial planning. There were no significant differences in feelings of regret between chronic procrastinators and nonprocrastinators in romance, career planning, and spiritual and self-improvements. Further research should explore the specific causes and consequences of regret among chronic procrastinators.
This article introduces the construct of alternative selves-self-redefining counterfactuals that are part of the self-concept. This construct adds the parallel time line of what could have been to the temporal framework underlying theories of the self. I discuss how alternative selves develop and how they influence people's professional lives, and I outline the implications of this construct for research on the self-concept, life stories, and counterfactual thinking.
This study examined passive and active procrastination among undergraduate anatomy students in terms of background variables, motivational beliefs (i.e., belief about the speed of knowledge acquisition, self-efficacy, and task value), and grades. Factor analysis revealed three discrete factors of active procrastination, one of which was closely tied to passive procrastination and behavioral procrastination. Analyses indicated that the relations to motivational beliefs and grades were markedly different for, on the one hand, two factors of active procrastination (positive relations) and, on the other hand, passive procrastination and the third factor of active procrastination (negative relations). After controlling for academic ability, only passive procrastination was a statistically significant predictor of grades. Results imply that the dimensions of active procrastination that appear adaptive for learning may not reflect behavioral procrastination, whereas the dimension of active procrastination that involves behavioral procrastination lacks adaptive associations.
It is possible that procrastination may be related to an inability to stay focused on a task and a need for frequent sensory stimulation. In the present correlational study, 142 young adults (80 women, 62 men: M age = 21.1, SD = 4.7) self-reported procrastination tendencies (avoidance, arousal, and decisional), attention deficits, boredom proneness, intelligence and self-esteem. Partial correlates (controlling for intelligence) indicated that all three forms of procrastination were related to boredom proneness, attention deficits, and low self-esteem. Factor analysis, however, indicated that no procrastination type loaded with attention deficits or intelligence, and only decisional procrastination loaded with self-esteem and boredom proneness. These results suggest that only cognitive forms of procrastination (indecision) may be related to a need for sensory stimulation, and that among normal adults procrastination is not associated with attention deficits.
In Sample 1, 46 procrastinators compared with 52 nonprocrastinators claimed lower self-esteem, greater public self-consciousness and social anxiety, and a stronger tendency toward self-handicapping. In Sample 2, 48 procrastinators compared with 54 nonprocrastinators reported a weaker tendency toward seeking self-identity information but a stronger tendency toward a diffuse-identity style, yet there were no significant differences in verbal and abstract thinking abilities. Further research must provide evidence for persistent procrastination as a personality disorder that includes anxiety, avoidance, and a fear of evaluation of ability.
Individual differences in wishful thinking were assessed. Wishful thinking is the extent to which cognitions (e.g. expectations, judgments) are affected by motivations (e.g., desire for an outcome). Participants (N = 64) expected to have to complete a task within a certain time interval. Half the participants expected the task to be pleasant and half expected it to be unpleasant. All were given guidance as to when the task should be started in order to make successful completion of the task probable. The actual time that participants began the task was observed and was the measure of procrastination. High wishful thinkers procrastinated (i.e., they started later than recommended and later than participants in the other conditions) when expecting an unpleasant, but not a pleasant task; low wishful thinkers did not procrastinate. The relationship between wishful thinking and procrastination is discussed.
Investigated the frequency of 342 college students' procrastination on academic tasks and the reasons for procrastination behavior. A high percentage of Ss reported problems with procrastination on several specific academic tasks. Self-reported procrastination was positively correlated with the number of self-paced quizzes Ss took late in the semester and with participation in an experimental session offered late in the semester. A factor analysis of the reasons for procrastination Ss listed in a procrastination assessment scale indicated that the factors Fear of Failure and Aversiveness of the Task accounted for most of the variance. A small but very homogeneous group of Ss endorsed items on the Fear of Failure factor that correlated significantly with self-report measures of depression, irrational cognitions, low self-esteem, delayed study behavior, anxiety, and lack of assertion. A larger and relatively heterogeneous group of Ss reported procrastinating as a result of aversiveness of the task. The Aversiveness of the Task factor correlated significantly with depression, irrational cognitions, low self-esteem, and delayed study behavior. Results indicate that procrastination is not solely a deficit in study habits or time management, but involves a complex interaction of behavioral, cognitive, and affective components. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
The reliabilities of the Procrastination Assessment Scale—Students and the General Procrastination Scale were examined. Scores ( n = 116) on split-half comparisons (odd vs even items) from two sections of the former were significantly, though moderately, correlated. Test-retest comparisons (1 mo.; n = 99) on both sections of the scale were correlated significantly. Test-retest scores on the general scale for a second independent sample of students (1 mo; n = 119 out of 132) also were correlated significantly. There was no significant sex difference on test-retest scores from either inventory. The inventories have adequate reliability and acceptable temporal stability as psychometric measures of procrastination.
Consideration of counterfactual alternatives to negative outcomes, particularly when the counterfactuals change those outcomes, has repeatedly been shown to intensify regret and judgments of blame. Two studies examined the influence of the relevance of the counterfactual to future behavior on Ss' judgments of regret and self-blame after a negative outcome. Results indicated that a dispositional tendency to consider the future consequences of current behavior can ameliorate the negative affect caused by thinking about how a negative outcome could have been avoided. Results also suggested that this amelioration is particularly likely to occur when Ss are induced to focus on the future. These findings are discussed in terms of understanding the positive functions counterfactuals may serve, particularly with respect to the determination of future behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The role of autonomous self-regulation as a predictor of academic procrastination was assessed. French-Canadian students from a junior college (N = 498) completed the Academic Motivation Scale as well as an academic procrastination scale and other measures (anxiety, self-esteem, and depression) that have been found to be related to fear of failure. Correlation results indicated that students with intrinsic reasons for pursuing academic tasks procrastinated less than those with less autonomous reasons (external regulation and amotivation). Regression results indicated that the measures of depression, self-esteem, and anxiety accounted for 14% of the variance in academic procrastination, whereas the self-regulation variables accounted for 25%. These results support the notion that procrastination is a motivational problem that involves more than poor time management skills or trait laziness.
This chapter tries to accomplish three objectives. Firstly, it defines the four motives and provides a selective review of research that indicates their prevalence. Secondly, it addresses the issue of the operation of four motives together to regulate self-evaluation. This chapter presents a conceptual framework for understanding the interplay of the four motives. This framework serves as a useful heuristic for consideration of potential moderators that govern the expression of the four motives. Finally, this chapter discusses several problems related to the self-evaluation motives that one believes are in need of empirical attention. This chapter serves to justify the claim that four basic self-evaluation motives have been demonstrated convincingly. Finally, the speculations of this chapter are meant to remind researchers that empirical work to date has taken certain aspects of the self-evaluation process for granted or has neglected other important issues.
Procrastination is variously described as harmful, innocuous, or even beneficial. Two longitudinal studies examined procrastination among students. Procrastinators reported lower stress and less illness than nonprocrastinators early in the semester, but they reported higher stress and more illness late in the term, and overall they were sicker. Procrastinators also received lower grades on all assignments. Procrastination thus appears to be a self-defeating behavior pattern marked by short-term benefits and long-term costs.
Examined the relation between academic procrastination and academically related trait measures among 379 university students, including 261 females, 117 males, and 1 S who did not specify gender. 126 of the Ss participated in weekly assessment sessions. Ss completed a procrastination assessment scale, the Test Anxiety Scale, a self-control scale, and a trait measure of attributions of success and failure 3 times when midterm examinations approached. Results indicate that more than 40% of the Ss reported a high level of procrastination. Self-reported procrastination was positively correlated with delay in taking self-paced quizzes and was negatively correlated with grade point average (GPA). High procrastinators, particularly women, were significantly more likely than were low procrastinators to report more test anxiety, weekly state anxiety, and weekly anxiety-related physical symptoms. High procrastinators were significantly more likely than were low procrastinators to attribute success on examinations to external and unstable factors. As the examination deadline approached, both high and low procrastinators perceived examinations to be less difficult, less important, and less anxiety provoking; reported fewer factors to hinder study behavior; increased their study behavior; and decreased delay. Implications for anxiety reduction as a procrastination intervention are discussed. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
[examines] individual differences in counterfactual thinking / first, some people may be consistently more likely than others to mentally undo events, whether the imagined outcome is better or worse / on the other hand, some people may be consistently more likely than others to use one type of counterfactual more than another type / that is, although everybody engages in counterfactual thinking, some people may consistently generate upward ["if only"] counterfactuals whereas others may have a propensity to use downward ["at least"] counterfactuals (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Provides simple but accurate methods for comparing correlation coefficients between a dependent variable and a set of independent variables. The methods are simple extensions of O. J. Dunn and V. A. Clark's (1969) work using the Fisher
z transformation and include a test and confidence interval for comparing 2 correlated correlations, a test for heterogeneity, and a test and confidence interval for a contrast among
k (>2) correlated correlations. Also briefly discussed is why the traditional Hotelling's
t test for comparing correlations is generally not appropriate in practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined self-reported personality factors related to decisional procrastination (DP) in 111 undergraduates, who completed psychometric scales that included the Jenkins Activity Survey. Results suggest that DP involved a tendency toward cognitive failures (e.g., forgetfulness) and was related to speed and impatience at task deadlines and low competitiveness at those tasks. DP was also related to low self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
It is possible that procrastination may be related to an inability to stay focused on a task and a need for frequent sensory stimulation. In the present correlational study, 142 young adults (80 women, 62 men; mean age = 21.1 yrs) self-reported procrastination tendencies (avoidance, arousal, and decisional), attention deficits, boredom proneness, intelligence and self-esteem. Partial correlates (controlling for intelligence) indicated that all three forms of procrastination were related to boredom proneness, attention deficits, and low self-esteem. Factor analysis, however, indicated that no procrastination type loaded with attention deficits or intelligence, and only decisional procrastination loaded with self-esteem and boredom proneness. These results suggest that only cognitive forms of procrastination (indecision) may be related to a need for sensory stimulation, and that among normal adults procrastination is not associated with attention deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Counterfactual thoughts ("might-have-been" reconstructions of past outcomes) may serve an affective function (feeling better) and a preparative function (future improvement). Three studies showed that counterfactuals varying in their direction and structure may differentially serve these 2 functions. Direction influenced affect such that downward (vs upward) counterfactuals caused more positive affect. Direction influenced intentions such that upward (vs downward) counterfactuals heightened intentions to perform success-facilitating behaviors. Both direction and structure influenced performance on an anagram task such that upward and additive (vs downward and subtractive) counterfactuals engendered greater improvement. These findings suggest that people can strategically use downward counterfactuals to make themselves feel better and upward and additive counterfactuals to improve performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The study examined three psychological explanations for procrastination: indecision (Janis & Mann, 1977); irrational beliefs about self-worth (Ellis & Knaus, 1977); and low self-esteem (Burka & Yuen, 1983). Times taken by 245 students in a first-year Psychology course to submit three separate assignments (a term-paper outline, a term paper, and a research questionnaire) were recorded and correlated with measures of indecision, irrational beliefs, and self-esteem, depression and anxiety. Similarly, students' self-reported frequency of procrastination was correlated with the above measures. Small but significant correlations were found between indecision, irrational beliefs, and low self-esteem and two measures of procrastination: time taken to submit a term paper and self-reported frequency of procrastination. Multiple regression analyses revealed that self-esteem and, to a lesser extent, indecision accounted for significant unique portions of the variance in procrastination. Significant correlations were also found between anxiety and depression and the two measures of procrastination. A significant negative correlation was found between self-reported procrastination and final course grade, indicating that procrastination is detrimental to academic performance. It was found that older students (21 and over) were less likely to procrastinate than younger students.
Lay''s (1986) General Procrastination (GP) and McCown and Johnson''s (1989) Adult Inventory for Procrastination (AIP) measures were evaluated across two studies. In Study 1, both inventories were administered to two groups of college students (Sample 1 n=52; Sample 2 n=59), who were asked to return completed scales before the end of the semester. Students'' attendance rates at study groups, test grades, and time required to complete multiple choice items on two exams also were recorded. Results indicated that high procrastination scores were related to a higher number of days to return completed inventories but not attendance, exams scores, or test-taking time. In Study 2, nontraditional age university students (n=215) were asked to complete procrastination measures as well as sensation-seeking, need for cognition, and self-esteem inventories. Factor analysis indicated that scores on Lay''s (1986) scale loaded on sensation-seeking, while McCown and Johnson''s (1989) scale loaded negatively with need for cognition and self-esteem variables. It would appear that although the scales assessed procrastinatory behavior, one inventory is indicative of sensation-seeking and the other the avoidance of poor self-esteem.
Previous research has primarily associated trait procrastination with dejection, and not agitation. The present study sought to confirm these earlier findings by examining the affect of trait procrastinators after their past study behavior had been primed in a written recollection assignment. The subjects were 38 male and 40 female university students. Procrastinators produced a higher number of dilatory behavior self-statements than nonprocrastinators. Baseline agitation was positively associated with this content and dejection negatively related. In hierarchical multiple-regression analyses, trait anxiety, baseline agitation, and concurrent dejection all contributed to the prediction of postrecollection agitation. In addition, trait procrastination and the number of dilatory self-statements interacted. Procrastinators making no mention of their defining behavior in their written recollections of past study behavior reported lower levels of postrecollection agitation than nonprocrastinators. In contrast, procrastinators who included a number of references to their past dilatory behavior expressed higher levels of agitation at Time 2, compared to nonprocrastinators. Baseline dejection, concurrent agitation, and trait anxiety contributed to the prediction of postrecollection dejection. Trait procrastination did not.
Procrastinators have reported experiencing low self-esteem and high social anxiety. The present study explored whether these characteristics promoted the choice of an environmental performance obstacle more by procrastinators than nonprocrastinators as an attempt to protect social and self-esteems. Female procrastinators (n = 57) self-reported significantly lower self-esteem but not abstract for verbal thinking abilities than female nonprocrastinators (n = 63). Participants then were assigned randomly to one of four conditions, in which they could choose the presence of a distracting, debilitating noise when their performance on either a (bogus) diagnostic or nondiagnostic task was public or private to a female experimenter. Procrastinators (49.1%) were more likely than nonprocrastinators (30.2%) to self-handicap. Most procrastinators handicapped in public when the task was nondiagnostic of ability (69.2%) or in private when the task was diagnostic of ability (73.3%), as opposed to public-diagnostic (35.7%) or private-nondiagnostic (20.0%) conditions. There was no significant tendency across conditions to self-handicap by nonprocrastinators. Results were explained by self- and social-esteem protection motives employed by procrastinators.
Young adults (202 women, 61 men: M = 20.9) completed measures of decisional and behavioral procrastination, self-esteem, interpersonal dependency, and self-defeating behavior. Correlational analysis indicated that both procrastination types separately and combined were significantly related to low self-esteem, dependency on others, and defeating behaviors. Among specific self-defeating behaviors, decisional procrastination was related to failing to complete crucial tasks, inciting anger in others, and rejecting good-spirited others. Behavioral procrastination was related to failing task completion, rejecting well-minded others, feeling guilty after a positive event, and choosing handicapping situations. Multiple regression analyses indicated that self-defeating tendencies of failure to complete crucial tasks and rejecting oppurtunities for pleasure were significant predictors of decisional, behavioral, and overall dysfunctional procrastination. Interpersonal dependency also was a significant predictor of both decisional and dysfunctional procrastination, while self-esteem predicted behavioral procrastination. These results suggest that types of procrastination may be predicted by similar personality factors, and that chronic procrastination is dysfunctional toward achieving life goals.
A recent study on the negative health consequences of procrastination suggested that procrastination was associated with higher stress and poor health (Tice & Baumeister, 1997). The current investigation sought to clarify and extend these findings by examining the mediational role of stress and health behaviors in the procrastination–illness relationship. It was hypothesized that in addition to stress, a behavioral pathway would be implicated, with poor weliness behaviors and delay in seeking treatment for health problems mediating the effects of procrastination on health. The model was tested with a sample of university students (n=122) during a high stress period. As expected, the results indicated that procrastination related to poorer health, treatment delay, perceived stress, and fewer weilness behaviors. The process analyses supported the mediational role of stress and treatment delay, but not weliness behaviors, in the procrastination–illness relationship. The model is consistent with current conceptualizations of the personality–health relationship, and presents procrastination as a behavioral style that may increase vulnerability for negative health outcomes.
Research on procrastination has grown exponentially in recent years. Studies have revealed that procrastination is an issue of self-regulation failure, and specifically misregulation of emotional states-not simply a time management problem as often presumed. This maladaptive coping strategy is a risk factor not only for poor mental health, but also poor physical health and other aspects of well-being. Procrastination, Health, and Well-Being brings together new and established researchers and theorists who make important connections between procrastination and health. The first section of the book provides an overview of current conceptualizations and philosophical issues in understanding how procrastination relates to health and well-being including a critical discussion of the assumptions and rationalizations that are inherent to procrastination. The next section of the book focuses on current theory and research highlighting the issues and implications of procrastination for physical health and health behaviors, while the third section presents current perspectives on the interrelationships between procrastination and psychological well-being. The volume concludes with an overview of potential areas for future research in the growing field of procrastination, health, and well-being. Reviews interdisciplinary research on procrastination Conceptualizes procrastination as an issue of self-regulation and maladaptive coping, not time management Identifies the public and private health implications of procrastination Explores the guilt and shame that often accompany procrastination Discusses temporal views of the stress and chronic health conditions associated with procrastination.
The purpose of this study was to propose and test a model of procrastination in job-seeking activities. This model posits that non self-determined job-seeking motivation (i.e., performing job-seeking activities because of controls and pressure) is positively related to procrastination in job-seeking activities. In addition, decisional procrastination is expected to be positively related to procrastination in job-seeking activities. In turn, procrastination in job-seeking is hypothesized to positively predict change in hopelessness toward job-seeking. Participants were 345 university students who were about to graduate. Results from regression analyses revealed that all hypothesized links were supported. Discussion centers on the role of motivation in procrastination toward job-seeking.
Two studies demonstrated that moods can influence counterfactual direction, and that self-esteem and external mood attributions can moderate such influences. This was shown for hypothetical situations (Study 1) and for performances after a laboratory task (Study 2). Although both high self-esteem (HSE) and low self-esteem (LSE) persons generated more downward than upward counterfactuals when in positive moods (Study 1), they diverged in their reactions to negative moods (Studies 1 & 2): HSE persons generated more downward than upward counterfactuals, whereas LSE persons generated more upward than downward counterfactuals. HSE persons also felt better after generating downward counterfactuals when in negative moods (Study 2), suggesting a mood repair strategy. Importantly, in both studies external attributions for moods moderated this pattern. Mood repair strategies were not used when moods were externally attributed, implicating the self and the informational value of moods in this process.
Recent advances in theory and research on the relations among mental simulation, affect, and personality are summarized and combined. Research has shown that (a) affect and mental simulations can influence each other, (b) mental simulations can serve diverse self-motives, and (c) personality characteristics are related to divergent functions of mental simulations. Findings in these three areas are synthesized into a conceptual framework on the basis of three attributes of mental simulations: (a) time, whether simulations are prospective or retrospective; (b) direction, whether simulations are upward or downward; and (c) focus, whether simulations are contrasted or assimilated. This integrated framework not only may enable a greater understanding of existing findings, but also suggests novel and unique predictions for future research on understanding personality processes, automaticity in simulations, and coping with life events.
Procrastinating in routine life tasks was investigated in university students (N = 314) by administering self-report measures of the phenomenon and various personality tests. Two conceptually independent aspects of procrastination—when one performed the task and how one handled scheduling tasks and adhering to schedule—were found to be highly correlated. Procrastination was greater on tasks regarded as unpleasant or as impositions, and to a lesser extent on tasks requiring skills the respondent did not believe he or she possessed. The phenomenon was inversely related to self-regulation, time-related factors of Type A behavior pattern, and life satisfaction, in men only. The findings were discussed in relation to broad concepts of cognitive appraisal, self-regulation, and coping with stress.
Three studies indicated that valenced events and self-motives have implications for understanding processes underlying counterfactual thinking. Moods (Study 1) and outcome valence (Study 3) influenced counterfactuals when self-motives (self-improvement, mood-repair, mood-maintenance, and self-protection) were manipulated directly. Agreement and reaction times (Studies 1 and 2), as well as time pressure (Study 3), indicated that counterfactual responses can be quick or slow depending on whether self-motives suggest a direction either consistent or inconsistent with direction activated initially. In Study 2, responses to manipulated outcomes by high- and low-self-esteem persons, who differ naturally in self-motives, provided further evidence for proposals when task repeatability was varied. Implications for antecedents and consequences of counterfactual thinking, self-motives, and dual-process models, are discussed.
Counterfactuals generated by victims of traumatic events were examined to elucidate their significance for the coping process. In Study 1, respondents were interviewed 4-7 years after the loss of their spouse or child in a motor vehicle accident. In Study 2, respondents were interviewed at 3 weeks and 18 months following the death of their child from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Across both studies, (a) counterfactuals were commonly reported; (b) the focus of counterfactuals was typically on one's own (in)actions, rather than on the behavior of others; (c) the more frequently respondents were undoing the event, the more distress they reported; and (d) this relation held after controlling for more general ruminations. These field studies demonstrate that even in situations that lack the highly mutable circumstances described in scenario research, people coping with traumatic events appear unhindered in their ability to generate counterfactuals. Theoretical implications, with an emphasis on field studies of undoing, are discussed.
Explores the hypothesis that alcohol use and underachievement may serve as strategies to externalize the causation of poor performance and to internalize the causation of good performance. Such a strategy may be prominently used especially by those who have a precarious but not entirely negative sense of self-competence. The etiology of this strategic preference may follow either of two scenarios. The child may attach desperate importance to this competence image because competence is the condition for deserving parental love. Or the child may have been rewarded for accidental attributes or performances that do not predict future success, thus leaving him in a position of one who has reached a status he fears he cannot maintain through his own control. The linkage of alcohol appeal to underachievement strategies is stressed; both are seen as expressions of the same overconcern with competence.
Ability, high school achievement, and procrastinatory behavior are tested as predictors of college performance in 194 women and 54 men. Ability was operationalized by total Scholastic Aptitude Test score, achievement by average grade earned in high school, and procrastination by score on the Procrastination Assessment Scale (PASS). It was hypothesized that procrastination could account for variance beyond that explained by ability and high school achievement in predicting college grade point average (GPA). Self-handicapping, a form of excuse making, was also included as a predictor. Results showed that procrastination does account for a significant portion of variance in college grades beyond that explained by ability and high school grades. For men, high school achievement was the strongest predictor of college performance; for women, ability was the strongest predictor. Self-handicapping did not account for any variance in GPA.
Noting the occasional inconsistency in the results of studies of the effects of negative affect on thoughts and actions in social situations, it is suggested that: (1) self-regulatory mechanisms sometimes intervene to determine what people experiencing unpleasant feeling will say (and maybe think) about others around them; and (2) at least some of these mechanisms may have to be activated by relatively high-level cognitive processing and are not always operative. More specifically. the theoretical analysis presented here holds that many different kinds of negative affect will prime thoughts having a negative meaning, including unfavourable judgements of others. However, negative affect does not always lead to openly expressed negative opinions and actions. It is proposed that attention to one's moderately unpleasant feelings tends to moderate the effect of negative affect on subsequent negative thoughts and actions by activating “higher-level” cognitive processing so that consideration is given to different kinds of knowledge pertinent to the given situation, including the social rules defining what is desirable and whatever relevant information is provided in the situation. Two experiments are reported, employing greatly different procedures and subjects of both sexes. in support of this analysis. The seeming disparity between the present conception and self-awareness theory is also discussed. and it is noted that these formulations are actually not at odds. Suggestions are made for further research.
The present research examined the behavioral processes by which individual differences in decisional procrastination are reflected in decision-making style. It was hypothesized, on the basis of previous research suggesting that people higher in decisional procrastination have a higher threshold for certainty before making a decision, that participants higher in decisional procrastination would not only take longer to complete the task, but also would seek more information about an alternative eventually chosen before making a decision. Participants, who had previously completed a decisional procrastination scale, were instructed within a behavioral process paradigm to search information about alternative choices on a decision-making task involving the selection of college courses. The number of dimensions (four vs six) and number of alternatives (two vs five) were systematically varied. The results provided convergent evidence with descriptive studies suggesting that rather than being unsystematic and easily distracted in their information searches, people higher in decisional procrastination are systematic and strategic but search for more information specifically about chosen alternatives. Theoretical and practical implications are considered.
The personality disorder of dispositional procrastination was significantly related to a concern for appropriate self-presentations. Procrastinators (n = 39) and nonprocrastinators (n = 36) rated a social ability task more attractive, personally relevant and likely to be performed well than a cognitive ability task. Procrastinators and nonprocrastinators stated they would prefer to complete the social task, yet in a public performance feedback condition procrastinators only chose to complete the cognitive task. Results were interpreted in terms of self-presentation strategies by dispositional procrastinators, and draws attention to a pathological personality that has largely been ignored by research psychologists.
Three studies examined the motivational implications of thinking about how things could have been worse. It was hypothesized that when these downward counterfactuals yield negative affect, through consideration of the possibility of a negative outcome, motivation to change and improve would be increased (the wake-up call). When downward counterfactuals yield positive affect, through diminishing the impact of a potentially negative outcome, motivation to change and improve should be reduced (the Pangloss effect). Results from three studies supported these hypotheses. Studies 1 and 2 showed that a manipulation of the counterfactual made about an investment influenced decisions toward that investment. Study 3 showed that students’ academic motivation was influenced by a manipulation of the type of downward counterfactual they made after an exam and that affect mediated the relationship between the counterfactual and motivation.
Counterfactual thinking involves the imagination of non-factual alternatives to reality. We investigated the spontaneous generation of both upward counterfactuals, which improve on reality, and downward counterfactuals, which worsen reality. All subjects gained $5 playing a computer-simulated blackjack game. However, this outcome was framed to be perceived as either a win, a neutral event, or a loss. "Loss" frames produced more upward and fewer downward counterfactuals than did either "win" or "neutral" frames, but the overall prevalence of counterfactual thinking did not vary with outcome valence. In addition, subjects who expected to play the game again made more upward counterfactuals and were less satisfied with the outcome than were subjects who did not expect to play again. However, once subjects saw the cards from which they could have selected had they "hit" again (two winning cards and two losing cards), all subjects generated primarily upward counterfactuals and showed a corresponding decrease in satisfaction. These results implicate both cognitive and motivational factors in the generation of counterfactuals and tell us something about the functional value of counterfactual thinking: downward counterfactuals provide comfort; upward counterfactuals prepare one for the future.
[This volume brings together] the most recent thoughts and . . . research of active counterfactual theorists. . . . [It] focuses on the efforts of experimental social psychologists. As such, the chapters included here reflect the dominant theoretical concerns of social psychology, such as an emphasis on 1) construal and interpretation rather than on the objective truth value of counterfactual propositions, on 2) the roles of motivation and processing goals in determining counterfactual effects, and on 3) the wide-ranging impact of situational influences on counterfactual thought processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two studies assessed self-consciousness and self-handicapping predictors of academic procrastination and the impact of this behavior on exam performance of undergraduates. In Exp 1, 411 high dispositional self-handicappers and procrastinators studied less, delayed more on exam preparation, and scored lower on course exams. In Exp 2, 169 high-dispositional self-handicapping and high self-esteem led to delays in exam preparation. The detrimental effects of procrastination varied as a function of lecture attendance and cognitive ability. In both studies, academic procrastination and self-handicapping were highly correlated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined the relationships among procrastination, efficacy expectations, anxiety, gender, and age for 141 university students (ages 18–54 yrs). The study was concerned with the extent to which procrastination could be predicted by variables theoretically or empirically tied to the construct. Participants were asked to think about a major project and to rate their efficacy regarding the skills needed to accomplish the project. Ss completed a Self-Efficacy Inventory, a modified version of Form G of the Procrastination Inventory, and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Bivariate correlations showed that efficacy expectations and anxiety had significant, individual relationships with procrastination. When these variables were entered into a regression model, only cumulative efficacy strength was a significant predictor of procrastination. Implications for counseling practice and research suggestions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Attempted to provide the theoretical basis for a tripartite linkage between counterfactuals (CFs), the hindsight bias (HB), and causal attributions (CAs). 100 Ss participated in Exp 1, designed to show that a manipulation of CF availability can influence causal and hindsight judgments. 85 Ss participated in Exp 2, in which the effect of outcome information on likelihood estimates to document the HB in its traditional between-Ss guise and the mediating role of CAs were assessed. Exp 3 integrated the findings of Exp 1 and 2 to combine the between-Ss HB and the standard CF. Results of Exps 1 and 3 showed that manipulations of CF thinking heighten the HB. All 3 experiments suggest that a facilitative effect of CFs on the HB is mediated by causal inference. Overall results indicate that negative outcomes are more likely to trigger sensemaking cognitions (e.g., CF and CA), thereby increasing the HB, than are positive outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
summarize extant research on procrastination and maladjustment / the chapter is organized into 3 sections / 1st section consists of a brief review of past and current research on procrastination and maladjustment, with a particular emphasis on research showing that most procrastinators suffer from a tendency to evaluate the self in a negative manner / this section focuses on contemporary research on procrastination in anxiety and depression, as well as work on procrastination and the self-concept / the 2nd section contains a description of research [from the authors'] laboratory on procrastination, life stress, and adjustment / in the 3rd section, [the authors] conclude by discussing the available evidence within the context of a preliminary model of procrastination and maladjustment (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Affective correlates of procrastination were examined through experience-sampling. 45 undergraduate students carried electronic pagers for 5 days preceding an academic deadline. Students were paged 8 times daily. At each signal, the participants indicated what they were doing, extent of procrastination and affective state. Contrary to previous research, procrastination was not found to be correlated with either positive or negative affect. Participants' appraisals of their tasks when paged revealed that they procrastinated on unpleasant, stressful and difficult tasks, while engaging in activities that were significantly more pleasant. Specious rewards, self-regulation and the apparent short-term benefits of procrastination are discussed in relation to these findings and as a basis for counseling intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
review research in which both affective and behavioral consequences of a person's thinking about counterfactuals with the future in mind was explored / report on experiments [with college students] targeting situational and dispositional determinants of future-oriented counterfactual thinking / the purpose of these studies was the assessment of the extent to which a focus on the future ameliorated the negative affect stimulated by a person's thinking about how a negative event could have been avoided / discuss the implications of research on counterfactual thinking for understanding, more generally, how people cope with negative events / [examines] recent research [on] the impact of counterfactual thinking on attitudes and behavior / consider these findings, and counterfactual thought more generally, in the broader context of mental simulation
study 1: salient counterfactuals and behavioral intentions / study 2: prefactuals and condom use / study 3: prefactuals and insurance (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT In two experiments we investigated the causes of low preparatory effort (minimal practicing for an upcoming event that is to be evaluated), a possible form of self-handicapping Experiment 1 found that people with high self-esteem practiced less than people with low self-esteem, although a prior experience of success eliminated this difference Experiment 2 showed that people with high self-esteem practiced less only when the practice duration was publicly known, indicating that they were using a strategic self-presentational ploy rather man responding to superior confidence This difference may reflect a desire to maximize the self-presentation of high ability by appearing to succeed despite minimal preparatory effort These results suggest that this form of self-handicapping is a strategy used by highly confident individuals in uncertain situations to make a favorable impression on others