Far Eastern University

Institute of Arts and Sciences

Department of Psychology
Manila

Workplace Stress and General Procrastination Among Selected

Workers in Public and Private Organizations

A Research Paper
In partial fulfillment for the course
Industrial Psychology

Prepared by:

Adina, Michael Jake

Dela Cruz, Claire Dominique
Esguerra, Alyanna Marie
Galang, Christine
Palacay, Mark Jelson

SY301 Bachelor of Science in Psychology

April 8, 2016

ABSTRACT
This study aimed to assess the difference between workplace
stress and general procrastination among selected workers in
public and private sectors. Apart from the difference, relationship
between the two variables was also investigated. The total
number of employees who participated in the study was 50; 25
each for public and private workers.. Ages ranged from 18 to 59
years old. The design used for this study is a descriptive
comparative-correlational. Mean scores obtained from the two
groups yielded that private workers had moderate levels of
workplace stress compared to the public workers low workplace
stress. Public workers had a higher general procrastination level
than private workers. The difference of public and private
workers yielded different results. In workplace stress, there is no
significant difference (p=.108). On the other hand, there was a
significant difference between the two workers in their general
procrastination levels (p=.001). A significant correlation between
workplace stress and general procrastination was seen with a pvalue of .000. Despite the substantial relationship, the correlation
between the two was negative meaning as the workplace stress
increases, general procrastination decreases with it, and vice
versa. Several factors is considered to have influenced the
differences between the public and private groups and the
relationship between the two variables, such as, setting, culture
in the workplace and the demands of the work.

INTRODUCTION
Can you handle a 9-to-5 hour job with overtime without feeling burnt out?
Can you do all the work on time without delay? Stress is a common reaction to a
tiring day of work . It is a state that an individual can experience especially in
doing work that has demanding circumstances. It is the bodys way to respond in
demands or stressors imposed upon them. As mentioned earlier, working 8-hours
straight can make a person feel burnt out. Nowadays, stress is an important
problem in the majority of countries. Apart from the fact that it is responsible for
numerous diseases, it also causes much suffering.
Stress appears as an adaptation reaction of our body to those external
factors that we perceive as being aggressive and which frequently lead us to an
alarm state, felt both psychically (tension, fear, anxiety), and physiological
(increase of the adrenaline secretion, intensity of heartbeats, sweating).
Occupational stress is one of the multiple issues that the modern society fights. It
is generated by professional life, work environment, with direct consequences on
the professional activity, but also on the health of those performing the respective
work.
The salience of work-related stress as a research topic is due in part to
the magnitude of its effects. In addition to being associated with a variety of
physical diseases, high levels of work-related stress can have a negative effect

on emotional well-being (Brewer & Mahan-Landers, 2003). Work related stress is

the response people may experience when presented with work demands and
pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which
challenge their ability to cope (Australian Safety and Compensation Council,
2008). Stress has both positive and negative aspects which may lead to either
achievement or towards harmful effects (Abushaikha & Sheil, 2006). This directly
affects the companys performance. A small amount of stress may positively
encourage workers to work harder. An excessive stress may result in negative
effects (Tice and Baumeister, 1997). In general, work-related stress is a growing
problem that results in substantial costs to individual employees and work
organizations around the globe (Hart & Cooper, 2001).
Workplace or occupational stress usually occurs when the individuals
capabilities, resources and needs do not match the requirements of the job.
Fatigue is usually experienced by a stressed individual that is due to
overworking, this is the kind of stress that builds up and eventually takes a toll on
the persons body. Beheshtifar (2011) claimed that workplace stress usually
produces issues on an individuals behavioral, mental and physical well-being
that it can pose a problem. A number of factors contribute to stress but in workrelated stress, one factor is the individuals ability to manage his or her time in
doing tasks. Procrastination often happens in the workplace.
Procrastination is the act of postponing or delaying a task to a later time. It
consists largely of some sort of short-term relief through acts that seem
rewarding while avoiding the anxious thought of doing the actual work to be done
(Boice,1996 as cited in Van Wyke, 2004) Procrastination can also be defined as
voluntarily delaying an intended task despite expecting to be worse off for doing
so, procrastination has been conceptualized as a state and as a trait. The latter
view of procrastination is often taken when unnecessary delay becomes a
frequent response to tasks that are perceived to be difficult or lacking immediate
reward. Procrastination is well known to have negative consequences for
psychological well-being, it is associated with anxiety and depression, as well as
feelings of shame, and poor mental health (Skrowronski and Mirowska, 2013).
Procrastination can also be linked to stress. In a study by Van Wyk (2004),
relationship between stress and procrastination among high school teachers was
looked upon. The study suggested that a relationship between stress and
procrastination exists. It was concluded in the paper that as the stress of the
teachers increases, their level s of procrastination increases as well. In one study
by Nguyen and colleagues (2013), procrastination in the workplace may pose
some problematic impacts in the workplace. One is that it somehow decreases
income.
Nguyen and colleagues conducted a research on how procrastination
affects the workplace and in turn the workplace to an individuals procrastination.
They used an Irrational Procrastination Scale (Steel, 2010) which contains nine
items that will measure the procrastination levels of a person. Findings of their
studied yielded interesting results such as that procrastination was indeed

associated with happiness. It can also be significantly correlated with lower

income. It was seen that men tend to procrastinate more than women. With this,
it has been concluded that procrastination may be an important element that can
be associated with income along with agreeableness. It is also related with
reduced employment. Between procrastinators and nonprocrastinators,
procrastinators are comprised with 57% of the unemployed.
Procrastinators tend to keep themselves ready for work but then, ends up
avoiding work entirely. Instead of doing the task, procrastinators displace their
anxiety of doing the actual work into less important obligations. With this
behavior, a number of concrete and emotional consequences can significantly
destabilize an individual. It includes lost opportunities and income, lower
productivity, lower morale, heightened stress, frustration and also, lower
motivation (Trandrafir, 2015). With all of these, it can lead to stress which can
then turn into a number or health and social problems. Individuals with
procrastination may have poor quality of life when the time comes.
Stress can result to depression and feelings of inadequacy to a fight or
flight syndrome. The study also showed that work-related stress may lead to
mental and physical problems. The rate of teacher burnout has been growing
and results to adverse implications especially for learning, as well as the
achievement of educational goals and the development of cynical attitudes
towards students (Hazer and Ruch, 2015). Descriptive statistical analysis
indicated that the data obtained were appropriate and realistic representation of
tendencies by high school teachers to procrastinate as well as reflect accurately
the stress they experience.
Based on the statistical analysis, a correlation between procrastination and
stress exists. The correlation was higher in individuals who had a higher
tendency to procrastinate compared to those who had low levels of
procrastination. Little correlation was seen in moderate procrastinators. The
correlation with moderate procrastinators with stress is in fact negative (Sirois,
2014).
Researchers then concluded that the stress experienced by respondents
with low to moderate levels of procrastination was not necessarily related to their
tendency to procrastinate (Schoar, et.al., 2011). Therefore, as procrastination
levels increase, the stress experienced by the teachers increase as well.
Alghamdi and Abbasi (2015) also reviewed the prevalence of
procrastination in different settings. For them procrastination is identified as one
of the least understood behaviours done by humans. It is considered as a
complex psychological phenomenon that not only leads to psychological distress,
but also shows links to lower levels of health and other factors. There has been
statistics that about 20-25% of adult men and women globally are suffering from
procrastination in different facets such as academic, social relationships and
most of all, in the workplace. Some identified factors closely associated with
procrastination are anxiety, task aversiveness, task delay, low self- efficacy,

dependence and lack of persistence. It also gives rise to low levels of selfesteem and self-confidence. As well as self-consciousness and concerns over
public image.
In the workplace, procrastination is considered to be a behavior that fails
to make work below its optimal potential. It usually increases employers costs
and decreases organizational productivity. It can also be negatively associated
with work values (Aziz and Tariq, 2013). Because of these reasons, employers
are less likely to retain employees with high procrastination especially in jobs that
need high motivation. In a previous study, it was suggested that delaying
behaviors not only influence a groups morale and cohesion, but also negatively
affect the whole group (Van Eerde, 2003).
Several possible causes of procrastination behaviors have been revealed
that poor time management, overwhelmed feelings, lack of motivation and
organizational skills, poor concentration on work and perfectionism actually
influence the individual (Mofoluwake and Oluremi, 2013). Cognitive styles that
involve unrealistic views about the self, others and the world may be the roots of
procrastination. It includes low frustration tolerance, self-downing and hostility.
Increased procrastination in everyday tasks is significantly predicted by high
anxiety and low self-efficacy. With that, procrastination can also be viewed as a
coping mechanism (Jackson, et.al., 2000).
In this study, the researchers aimed to assess whether theres a difference
between workplace stress and the procrastination levels of employees working in
private and public organizations, since type of organization or workplace setting
may elicit different attitudes toward working. The workplace setting was
interpreted as physical geographical location as well as the immediate
surroundings of the workplace, such as a construction site or office building.
Typically involves other factors relating to the place of employment, such as the
quality of the air, noise level, and additional perks and benefits of employment
such as free child care or unlimited coffee, or adequate parking. This study also
seeked to provide a plausible information whether there was a relationship
between the two variables stated.
METHOD
Research Design
The type of research that will be used in this study is a descriptive
research (a) comparative, and (b) correlational, where the researchers will
examine the comparison in the phenomenon of which employees have a higher
stress level and procrastination, desk employees from a private sector or from
the public sector. The data gathered from the participants will be scrutinized
through observations in numerical representations and through statistical
analysis.

Participants
The total number of the participants in this study is 50, 25 private company
desk employees and 25 will come from public company desk employees. All the
gathered respondents are within metro manila vicinity. The participants age
ranged from 18-59. The 50 respondents were selected through purposive
sampling method, the questionnaires are distributed randomly in different
companies. The researchers pursued purposive sampling for the reason of
selecting workers that are qualified in the particular characteristics of a
population which are desk employees working either from public or private
organization, that are of interest of the study.

Measures
The Workplace Stress Scale by The Marlin Company, North Haven, CT,
and the American Institute of Stress, Yonkers, NY. The scale has 8 questions to
tap the stress level of the participant. It is 5-point likert scale with response
options of never, rarely, sometimes, often and very often. Sample question of the
scale is I feel that job pressures interferes with my family or personal life and
the participant will choose from the parameters depending on how often does the
statement describe how they feel. Also, the scale comes up with an instruction on
how to properly interpret and score it. The internal reliability of the test from
previous study was .813. There are several successful studies around the globe
that utilized this scale in measuring stress level of their participants which can
describe the scale as a valid instrument in tapping the stress level of workers.
General Procrastination Scale created by Professor Clarry Lay of York
University, Canada, which is intended to measure the procrastination level of the
participant is entitled. It is a 5 point likert scale and has 20 questions to tap the
general procrastination of each participant. Several studies indicated that GPS
has a Cronbach alpha of .78 and test retest reliability as high as .80. Experts
have described GPS as having acceptable psychometric properties.
Research Procedures
Before undergoing in the administration, the researchers initially asked for
the companys head permission to consent them to administer test to their
employees. When the researchers are already allowed, consent forms are then
distributed among the respondents before the protocol that will be administered.
They will be asked by the researchers for consent and approval to answer the
questionnaires. The participants will answer a data sheet to accumulate their
respective demographic background. This contains questions to answer the
basic information such as their names, gender, age range, and to what type of
company they belong. After that, 2 scales will be given to the participants to
measure their stress level and procrastination and will be given an instruction on
how to answer the given scales. The researcher will strictly follow the time

allotted in each test which is 20 minutes per scale. Then, when the researchers
have reached the desired number of respondents of 50 desk workers, and
gathered all the survey response, the answered questionnaires will be scored,
and evaluated through statistical analysis.
Statistical Treatment
Data gathered will be analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social
Sciences v.20 (IBM SPSS 20). To compute and determine whether there is a
relationship between the two variables: workplace stress and procrastination
levels, the treatment to be used is Pearsons r correlation. For the difference,
Independent T-test will be utilized.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1. Frequency and Percentage Distribution of the Respondents when
Grouped According to Type of Organization
Demographic
Variable
Type of Organization Public
Private

Frequency

Percentage

25
25

50.0
50.0

Total

50

100.0

Table 1 shows that the frequency and percentage distribution of the

respondents is equal in the public organization and the private organization, both
having a frequency of 25. With the total of 100 %, participants coming from the
two organizations each had a percentage of 50%.

Table 2. Workplace Stress and General Procrastination Mean Scores and

Standard Deviation Values when Grouped According to Demographic Variances
Variables

Public
(SD)
18.62 (4.405)

Interpretation

Private
(SD)
21.80 (7.506)

Interpretation

Workplace Stress
Low
Moderate
General
Procrastination
52.16 (7.203) High
45.44 (13.875) Moderate
Note. Public SD = Public Organization Standard Deviation, Private SD= Private
Organization Standard Deviation. Workplace Stress: (<15 Very low) (16-20 Low)
(21-25 Moderate) (26-30 High) (31-40 Very High); General Procrastination: (1530 Low) (31-45 Moderate) (46-75 High)
Table 2 shows workplace stress and general procrastination mean
scores and standard deviation values when grouped according to demographic

variances. It shows that participants from public organization have obtained a

work stress mean of 18.62 which considered as low in the interpretation, followed
by a 52.16 mean in procrastination which is labeled as high. While private
organization participants resulted with a 21.80 mean in work stress which
considered as moderate and a mean of 45.44 in procrastination which is
interpreted as moderate also.
In comparing the mean between workers in the public sector and
private sector, workplace stress mean scores by public workers were lower as
compared to the private workers with moderate stress levels. It implies that
stress experienced in the workplace is higher in private organizations than the
stress experienced in the workplace by workers in the public sector. On the other
hand, it is noticeable that public workers experiences a lot more procrastination
compared to private workers. These results can be inferred to the amount of
work load/demands an organization receives, because public organizations are
known to have a busier workplace because it is under the government and it
handles a lot of tasks that should be accomplished in less amount of time. This
result is in line with the statement of Australian Safety and Compensation
Council, 2008 that Work related stress is the response people may experience
when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their
knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope.

Table 3. Significant Differences in the Workplace Stress and General

Procrastination of Workers When Grouped According to Type of Organization
Variables
Workplace
Stress
General
Procrastination

t-value
-1.815

p-value
.108

Decision on H0
Accept H0

Inference
Not significant

2.149

.001

Reject H0

Significant

Table 3 shows the differences between the two variables. With the aid
of SPSS, we successfully computed the difference between workplace stress
and procrastination of workers using Independent samples t-test. Despite the
results in table 2 stating that the workplace stress of private workers are, in some
extent, higher than that of the public workers, table 3 suggests that the
difference between their workplace stress levels did not yield statistically
significant, p=.108.
This result could account to the minimal difference between the value
of work stress mean obtained by public workers and private workers. The
difference from two means should be somewhat much higher in order to achieve
significant difference from two values. General procrastination of the two groups,
however, obtained a significant difference with a p-value of .001.

Workplace stress didnt have any significant difference but in Mackland

and colleagues study in 2006, work stress compensation rates indicate that the
public sector should theoretically show higher rates of distress as compared to
private sectors. This is due to the problematic compensation rates and benefits
public workers experience that private workers dont. General procrastination had
a significant difference. Procrastination is said to be linked with happiness and
other positive attitudes towards the workplace they are into (Steel, 2010). Public
organizations usually have more dire facilities that private organizations which
usually is complete in terms of the setting. This may have been a contributing
factor to the higher procrastination among public workers and a significant
difference between public and private workers (Steel, 2010). In another study,
procrastination, stress and self-compassions differences among each other were
investigated. Likewise, procrastination and stress differed among the groups they
compared (Sirois, 2014).

Table 4. Significant Correlation between Workplace Stress and General

Procrastination
Variables
r-value
Workplace
Stress
and -.480
General
Procrastination
*Significant at the 0.05 level

p-value

Decision on H0

Inference

.000

Reject H0

Significant

Table 4 shows the correlation between the two variables. With the aid
of SPSS, we were able to determine the relationship between workplace stress
and general procrastination using pearsons r correlation. The two variables
yielded a statistically significant correlation with a p-value of .000. The r-value is
of negative value which indicates an indirect relationship between the two
variables, as one variable increases, the other one decreases. The magnitude of
the relmationship is substantial. This means that workplace stress somehow
affects general procrastination and vice versa. However, this only signifies a
relationship but not causation between the two.
In a study by Van Wyk (2004), correlation between moderate levels of
procrastination and stress was investigated. The study found that the variables
yielded a weak negative relationship with an r-value of only -.18. With the very
small value, it is concluded that there is not enough effect between the two. The
significant factor does not have enough value. In the same study, general
procrastination and stress was measured. A positive correlation was obtained but
it didnt exhibit high relationship, thus, a low level of significance was attributed
with it. Sirois (2014) also correlated stress and procrastination along with selfcompassion. However, in this study, procrastination is positively correlated to
stress as opposed to the results in table 4 wherein the relationship of workplace

stress and general procrastination yielded a negative relationship. In Sirois

study, self-compassion is an additional factor that may be a contributing reason
as to why procrastination is positively correlated to stress.

CONCLUSION
Public employees reported as having low workplace stress level, while
they have high general procrastination level. This shows that despite having high
procrastination, they were still able to handle their stresses on their workplace.
On the other hand, private employees have a moderate level of workplace stress
and general procrastination, which tells that private employees tend to have just
a normal stress and procrastination. And with the aid of the SPSS, this suggests
that there are no significant differences in the workplace stress and general
procrastination of workers when grouped according to type of organization, but
there is a significant relationship between workplace stress and general
procrastination. These results mean that we can identify and relate the
procrastination of the employee with their workplace, and vice versa.

LIMITATIONS OF THE FINDINGS

Although the research has reached its aims, there were some unavoidable
limitations. First, because of the samples, this research was conducted with only
a small size of population (25 public employees, 25 private employees).
Therefore, as recommended for the future researchers, to generalize the results
for the larger group, the study should involve more participants both from private
and public organizations. Second, the employees overloaded works during the
test administration, to some extent, might affect the real result, if it would be
administered in an ordinary day, which employees have their normal stress and
procrastination. Finally, the specificity of their job description would have an effect
to the real scores. More specific job would have more correlation and would be
able to differentiate it more.

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Far Eastern University Manila

Institute of Arts and Science
Department of Psychology
Dear Respondents,

We are third year BS Psychology students currently taking Industrial Psychology (PSY
115). As part of our requirement in the said subject, we are working on a research about
the Workplace Stress and General Procrastination of Selected Workers in Public and
Private Organizations. The research is about knowing the difference between the
organizational stress and procrastination levels of public and private office workers.
In line with this, we would like to formally ask for your permission to participate as
respondents in our study. Two tests will be given, the Workplace Stress Scale and the
Adult Inventory of Procrastination. The tests will only take 15-20 minutes.
Rest assured that the information we will obtain will be used in research purposes only
and will be kept confidential.
I am hoping that this will merit your favorable response. Thank you.
Respectfully,
Adina, Michael Jake
Dela Cruz, Claire Dominique
Esguerra, Alyanna Marie
Galang, Christine
Palacay, Mark Jelson
Noted by:

Prof. Luzelle Ann Ormita, PhD

Personal Data Sheet

Name: ___________________________________
Age: _____________

Please check all that apply to you:

Sex: Male: _____ Female: _____

Job Information:
Work Setting:
Public/Government: ______ Private: ______

Name of Company: __________________________________________