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We examined the relation between academic procrastination and academically related trait
measures. Subjects were assessed three times on state measures when midterm exams ap-
proached. Results indicated that more than 40% of the students 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. High procras-
tinators, particularly women, were significantly more likely than were low procrastinators
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
to report more test anxiety, weekly state anxiety, and weekly anxiety-related physical symp-
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
toms. High procrastinators were significantly more likely than were low procrastinators to
attribute success on exams to external and unstable factors. As the exam deadline ap-
proached, both high and low procrastinators perceived exams to be less difficult, less im-
portant, and less anxiety provoking; reported fewer factors to hinder study behavior; increased
their study behavior; and decreased delay. Implications for anxiety reduction as a procras-
tination intervention are discussed.
Delaying on academic tasks to the point of experiencing related trait measures is also important in conceptualizing
anxiety is a common practice among college students (Burka interventions for academic procrastination. It is unlikely
& Yuen, 1983). For research purposes, academic procras- that the large numbers of students adversely affected by
tination has been defined as the self-reported tendency (a) procrastination need clinical intervention (e.g., therapy for
to nearly always or always put off academic tasks, and (b) depression), but it is likely that they may have related ac-
to nearly always or always experience problematic levels ademic problems (e.g., test anxiety) that need to be ad-
of anxiety associated with this procrastination (Rothblum, dressed in counseling. Thus, the present study examined
Beswick, & Mann, 1984). Thus, self-reported procrastin- the relation of procrastination with an affective, cognitive,
ation constitutes more than a reasonable length of time to and behavioral measure, respectively. First, test anxiety
complete a task, but must include both frequent delay and was included because of the salience of anxiety as a factor
considerable anxiety. hindering study behavior in previous research (Solomon &
Previous research (Solomon & Rothblum, 1984) indi- Rothblum, 1984) and because anxiety specifically related
cated that nearly one fourth of all college students reported to academic exams was presumed to have high correlations
problems with procrastination on such academic tasks as with academic delay. Second, we included an attribution
writing term papers, studying for exams, and keeping up measure that assesses students' attributions of success and
with weekly readings. Furthermore, there was a significant failure on exams. Because procrastinators usually complete
positive correlation between self-reported procrastination and assignments at the last moment, they may be less likely
a variety of clinical factors such as depression, trait anxiety, than nonprocrastinators to attribute their performance to ef-
and irrational cognitions, and a significant negative corre- fort or ability (internal attributions), but instead they may
lation between procrastination and self-esteem. These find- be more likely to attribute performance to luck or situational
ings suggest that procrastination is more than a study-skills factors (external attributions). Finally, a measure of self-
deficit, but includes cognitive and affective components. control was included in order to assess students* reports of
One purpose of the present study was to investigate the their abilities to motivate themselves and to complete tasks
relation of academic procrastination with academically re- on their own.
lated trait measures, in contrast to the clinical trait measures Solomon and Rothblum (1984) assessed procrastination
mentioned earlier. Because academic procrastination incon- at only one point in time. Presumably, students' level of
veniences a large percentage of students, it is important to procrastination fluctuates over time as deadlines approach.
assess which traits affecting academic performance might There is evidence that high procrastinators may be moti-
be similarly involved. Further knowledge of academically vated to decrease delay only when their anxiety and worry
reach peak levels (Solomon, Murakami, Greenberger, &
This research was supported by a grant from the University of Rothblum, 1983). It is important to assess academic pro-
Vermont. The authors extend their appreciation to Mary Ellen crastination at various time intervals surrounding an ap-
Fortini. proaching deadline in order to examine the optimal
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to intervention period. Thus, a second purpose of the present
Esther Rothblum, Department of Psychology, John Dewey Hall, study was to examine procrastination as a process over time
University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405. in order to detect differences between high and low pro-
387
388 E. ROTHBLUM, L. SOLOMON, AND J. MURAKAMI
crastinators as a deadline approaches. Students were as- compare academic procrastination with psychological trait
sessed at weekly intervals during the midterm exam period measures more specifically related to academic tasks, (b)
of the semester. The weekly questionnaires again assessed to assess procrastination over time as a deadline ap-
affective, cognitive, and behavioral components hypothe- proaches, (c) to assess the reasons for procrastination over
sized to be related to procrastination. Thus, students were time, in the form of hindering factors that impede effective
assessed each week on (a) affective variables (state anxiety study on a weekly basis, and (d) to further validate self-
and anxiety-related physical symptoms), (b) cognitive var- reported procrastination by correlating it with behavioral
iables (appraisal of the importance and difficulty of mid- measures of delay and academic performance. Thus, the
terms and the factors that may hinder effective study), and present study was designed to identify not only variables
(c) behavioral variables (weekly procrastination and amount that need to be addressed when one counsels students who
of study behavior). are problem procrastinators, but to identify the most effec-
A separate issue but one that is related to the frequency tive time for such counseling.
of procrastination is the reason why students procrastinate.
Solomon and Rothblum (1984) found that fear of failure Method
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
longer than did those who took this quiz earlier in the semester. Relation of Academic Procrastination to Quiz Delay
A frequency distribution indicates that students took Quiz 10 be- and Grade Point Average
tween the 2nd and 15th weeks in a 15-week semester, with a
median time of taking Quiz 10 being during the 10th week of the Pearson product-moment correlations were performed
semester (this results in most students taking a large number of between self-reported academic procrastination, quiz delay,
quizzes during the last weeks of the semester, yet few students and grade point average. Self-reported procrastination was
fail to take all 23 quizzes). positively correlated with delay on self-paced quizzes (r =
Grade point average. Students' grade point average for the .15, p < .005). Thus, subjects who reported that they pro-
semester was obtained as a behavioral measure of general aca- crastinated also tended to demonstrate behavioral delay.
demic performance.
Self-reported procrastination was negatively correlated with
Procedure grade point average for the semester (r = - .22, p < .001).
Subjects who reported procrastination performed less well
During an experimental session, subjects completed the PASS, academically than did nonprocrastinators.
the Test Anxiety Scale, the Causal Dimension Scale, and the
Rosenbaum Self-Control Scale. Those subjects selected to partic- Comparison of Academic Procrastination with
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
ipate in the weekly assessment sessions were assessed the week Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Trait Measures
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
Table 1
Means of Academically Related Trait Measures by Level of Procrastination and Gender
High procrastinators Low procrastinators
Women Men Women Men
Measure n = 117 n = 37 n = 144 n = 80
Affective
Test anxiety 23.40 20.35 19.26 17.75
Cognitive
Attributions of success
Internal/external 2.07 2.08 1.86 1.89
Stable/unstable 3.04 2.86 2.58 2.77
Controllable/uncontrollable 1.97 2.00 1.86 1.92
Attributions of failure
Internal/external 3.08 3.23 3.12 3.05
Stable/unstable 3.95 4.06 4.02 3.89
Controllable/uncontrollable 2.62 2.79 2.70 2.65
Behavioral
Self-control -10.65 -8.08 -18.73 -14.13
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HIGH AND LOW PROCRASTINATORS 391
significant differences between high and low procrastinators the first and third sessions. Post hoc comparisons indicate
on any attributions of test failure. There were no significant that this gender difference is significant for high procras-
differences between high and low procrastinators on attri- tinators in Session 3, but not for the other sessions. Low
butions of controllability for either test success or test fail- procrastinators, whether men or women, show relatively
ure, and no significant gender differences on any measure little change in reported physical symptoms across sessions.
of attributions. Cognitive measures. A significant main effect for session
Finally, as predicted, high procrastinators scored signif- occurred on the weekly midterm appraisal measure, F(2,
icantly lower on the behavioral measure of self-control than 120) = 7.32, p .001. Post hoc comparisons indicate a
did low procrastinators, F (1, 377) = 18.00, p < .001. significant difference between subjects' scores between each
Thus, high procrastinators report less self-efficacy, less de- session. Thus, subjects regardless of level of procrastination
lay of gratification, and fewer self-statements to overcome view their midterm exams as decreasing in difficulty, im-
emotional reactions. Women scored significantly lower on portance, and the degree to which they provoke anxiety as
self-control than did men, F (I, 377) = 5.25, p < .05. the exam date approaches.
There was a significant interaction between procrastina-
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
Table 2
Academic Procrastination as a Process Over Time: Means and Standard Deviations of State Measures by Level of
Procrastination and Gender Across Sessions as Midterm Exams Approach
Affective
Weekly state anxiety
Women
M 56.85 56.96 55.54 43.35 48.19 46.11
SD 11.94 12.86 14.21 10.35 13.10 12.94
Men
M 50.73 53.91 47.54 48.70 48.43 50.91
SD 12.01 13.42 20.12 12.09 10.64 10.25
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
Women
M 23.11 21.68 25.26 17.30 17.78 16.43
SD 7.56 7.91 11.12 6.16 6.73 7.91
Men
M 16.91 20.00 17.18 19.35 19.78 21.00
SD 4.91 7.81 6.85 8.28 8.52 9.99
Cognitive
Weekly midterm appraisal
Women
M 3.91 3.68 3.59 3.69 3.22 3.04
SD 0.80 1.17 1.27 1.03 1.56 1.62
Men
M 3.54 2.12 2.15 3.88 3.80 3.65
SD 1.30 2.04 2.10 0.61 1.00 0.95
Hindering factor: fear of failure
Women
M 2.31 2.01 1.25 1.76 1.55 0.85
SD 1.12 1.08 1.53 0.89 1.03 1.08
Men
M 1.40 1.18 0.49 1.89 1.78 1.24
SD 0.70 1.34 0.88 0.78 0.89 1.11
Hindering factor: task aversiveness
Women
M 2.67 2.78 1.40 1.95 2.00 1.04
SD 1.03 1.30 1.66 1.03 1.31 1.27
Men
M 2.24 1.54 0.70 2.07 2.25 1.70
SD 1.31 1.66 1.34 0.86 0.89 1.41
Behavioral
Weekly procrastination
Women
M 3.53 3.45 1.83 2.61 2.57 1.26
SD 1.23 1.28 1.97 1.22 1.52 1.56
Men
M 3.00 2.18 1.00 2.37 2.76 1.89
SD 1.41 2.18 1.72 0.92 1.03 1.54
Weekly study behavior
Women
M 1.40 2.25 2.67 1.62 2.63 3.00
SD 0.78 1.31 1.39 1.06 1.75 1.67
Men
M 1.61 3.85 3.86 1.45 2.42 2.61
SD 1.51 2.11 2.17 0.57 1.19 1.23
tion, there was a significant interaction of procrastination were more likely than female low procrastinators to report
and gender on this measure, F(l, 121) = 6.63, p = .01. weekly procrastination, f(89) = 2.17, p < .05. There was
Simple effects indicated that female high procrastinators no such effect for men.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HIGH AND LOW PROCRASTINATORS 393
There was a significant main effect for session on weekly On the cognitive trait measure, high procrastinators are
study behavior, with subjects, regardless of level of pro- more likely to attribute success on exams to more external
crastination, studying more during later sessions, F(2, 120) and fleeting circumstances than are low procrastinators.
= 49.77, p < .001. Post hoc comparisons indicated that Solomon and Rothblum's (1984) research indicated a neg-
there was a significant difference between each session. ative correlation between academic procrastination and self-
Finally, there was a significant interaction of procrastina- esteem. The results of the present study suggest that this
tion and gender on weekly study behavior, F(l, 121) = may be due to high procrastinators attributing success to
7.89, p < .01; however, simple effects indicated no sig- unstable factors rather than to their own ability or effort.
nificant results. In this way, they cannot take credit for success nor validate
their own competence. It is interesting that there was no
Discussion significant effect for procrastination on any attributions of
failure (either internality, stability, or controllability). Pos-
One striking feature of our data is the large number of sibly, some high procrastinators are attributing failure on
students adversely affected by procrastination. More than tests to lack of effort (internal) and others to situational
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
40% of all subjects reported nearly always or always pro- factors (external). In either case, procrastination may pro-
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
crastinating on exams to the point of experiencing consid- tect individuals from a true test of their abilities.
erable anxiety. This percentage, as a reflection of current The weekly cognitive measures indicate that high and
student stress, is staggering, and the implications for pro- low procrastinators are affected by negative appraisal and
crastination as an area of concern for university counseling hindering factors before exams. There were significant main
centers is self-evident. effects for session on weekly midterm appraisal, fear of
Our data reveal a significant relation between self-re- failure as a hindering factor, and task aversiveness as a
ported procrastination on exams and delay behavior, as evi- hindering factor. Thus, during the first session, students
denced by delay in taking self-paced quizzes. Although this view exams as difficult, important, and anxiety provoking;
correlation was low, the comparisons were between self- regard fear of negative evaluation, perfectionism, and low
reported procrastination on studying for exams in general, self-confidence to hinder effective study; and view the aver-
and delay in self-paced quizzes in one course. The result siveness of the task to obstruct study behavior. These neg-
confirms previous research on the validity of self-reported ative cognitions decrease with each subsequent session. Thus,
procrastination (Rothblum, Beswick, & Mann, 1984; Sol- our results indicate that cognitions of most students (re-
omon & Rothblum, 1984). There was also a significant gardless of whether they procrastinate) are greatly affected
negative correlation between self-reported procrastination by the proximity of upcoming exams. These worrisome
and grade point average, indicating that procrastination is cognitions decrease once exam deadlines are close and stu-
related to poorer academic performance. Again, the low dents are presumably studying. However, we should point
correlation may be the result of correlating grade point av- out that students completed the third set of questionnaires
erage at the end of the semester with self-reported procras- after they had taken their midterm exams. Even though in
tination at the beginning of the semester. the instructions subjects were asked about their cognitions
Affective, cognitive, and behavioral factors are associ- just before midterms, the relief of having completed the
ated with academic procrastination. High and low procras- exams may have distorted their recollections of these cog-
tinating students differ from each other in each of these nitions.
domains. For each factor, trait and weekly state measures Results for the behavioral measure, self-control, indi-
are discussed together. cated that high procrastinators and women perceive them-
Regarding the affective measures, both women and high selves to have less delay of gratification, lower self-efficacy,
procrastinators report more test anxiety. High procrastina- and less control over emotional reactions. It is not surpris-
tors are also more likely to report weekly state anxiety, and ing that high procrastinators also report more weekly pro-
the interaction of gender and procrastination on this mea- crastination. Again, this effect is particularly true for female
sure yields a significant effect for women. Similar results high procrastinators.
are obtained on the measure assessing weekly anxiety-re- The weekly behavioral measures indicate that weekly de-
lated physical symptoms. Both high procrastinators in gen- lay and a low frequency of study behavior occur for most
eral and female high procrastinators in particular are more students (regardless of whether they report procrastinating).
likely to report the presence of physical symptoms. Fur- By the third session, students were less likely to delay study
thermore, a significant three-way interaction of procrastin- and more likely to be studying regularly than during the
ation and gender with session indicated that female high first session.
procrastinators reported more anxiety-related physical In sum, by including measures of actual behavioral delay
symptoms during the last session than did male high pro- and records of academic performance, the present study
crastinators. The absence of a significant main effect for demonstrates that procrastination is associated with nega-
session indicates that anxiety remains fairly stable over time. tive academic consequences. The results indicate that high
Thus, low procrastinators do not report much anxiety at any procrastinators experience high and stable levels of general
time as midterm exams approach, whereas high procrastin- anxiety across time, and also have more test anxiety. Thus,
ators (particularly women) report stable levels of high anx- the traditional interventions for procrastination through study-
iety across sessions. skills counseling (e.g., Richards, 1975) or via the intro-
394 E. ROTHBLUM, L. SOLOMON, AND J. MURAKAMI
duction of external contingencies (e.g., Green, 1982) may Green, L. (1982). Minority students' self-control of procrastina-
be insufficient. High procrastinators do not differ from low tion. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 29, 636-644.
procrastinators in their study behavior or even on negative Paulman, R. G., & Kennelly, K. J. (1984). Test anxiety and
cognitions nearly as much as they differ on anxiety. Thus, ineffective test taking: Different names, same construct? Jour-
interventions that additionally focus on anxiety reduction nal of Educational Psychology, 76, 279-288.
Richards, C. S. (1975). Behavior modification of studying through
seem warranted for procrastinators. The time period of in-
study-skills advice and self-control procedures. Journal of
tervention may not be important, given the stability of anx- Counseling Psychology, 22, 431436.
iety over time among high procrastinators. Rosenbaum, M. (1980), A schedule for assessing self-control be-
Furthermore, anxiety is particularly salient for women. haviors: Preliminary findings. Behavior Therapy, 11, 109-121.
The prevalence of test anxiety among women, regardless Rothblum, E. D., Beswick, G., & Mann, L. (1984). Psycholog-
of their level of procrastination, suggests that many women ical antecedents of student procrastination. Unpublished man-
who are not procrastinators are affected by anxiety. It is uscript, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide,
also interesting to note that Solomon and Rothblum (1984) Australia.
found women to report significantly more fear of failure as Russell, D. (1982). The Causal Dimension Scale: A measure of
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
an antecedent of procrastination. Further understanding of how individuals perceive causes. Journal of Personality and
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.