Too relaxed or too distressed? Procrastinator types revisited
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Across three independent studies, cluster analysis consistently revealed three latent profiles: non-procrastinators (low procrastination, high self-efficacy), distressed procrastinators (medium-to-high procrastination, low self-efficacy), and emotionally adapted procrastinators (high procrastination, high self-efficacy). These three groups differed on various levels. Study 1 involved 468 students who completed measures of academic procrastination, self-efficacy, self-esteem, self-regulation, conscientiousness, trait anxiety, and self-reports on actual delay and experience of procrastination on authentic tasks. Adapted procrastinators scored substantially higher than distressed procrastinators on self-reported procrastination as well as delay. Distressed procrastinators scored significantly higher in trait anxiety and lower in self-esteem. Study 2 involved 248 students of psychology. In this sample, emotionally adapted procrastinators scored significantly higher in self-efficacy than non-procrastinators. They also reported stronger experience of self-determination, which was at the same or even higher level than in non-procrastinators. Study 3 involved 287 respondents, both students and non-students. The study was conducted with two hypotheses in mind: (1) The same three latent profiles as those found in student samples will be identified through the same statistical procedure, and (2) the latent profiles will be related to the interaction between prospective and threat-related action orientation (Kuhl & Beckmann, 1994). Both of these hypotheses were supported. As expected, both procrastinator clusters scored much lower on prospective action orientation than non-procrastinators. At the same time, adapted procrastinators scored high on threat-related action orientation, while distressed procrastinators scored very low. With respect to actual performance, however, students in both procrastinator groups reported lower GPAs than non-procrastinators, and both groups reported that procrastination caused major problems in their lives. |