Proud of self-control failures: Downregulation of negative affect as a moderator of the relationship between procrastination and self-efficacy and self-esteem
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | While self-efficacy and self-esteem are considered highly consistent negative predictors of procrastination, some authors have identified groups of procrastinators with exceptionally high levels of self-efficacy/self-esteem. In three independent studies (N = 152, 195 and 287), I have examined threat-related action orientation (AOT) as a potential moderator of the relationship between procrastination and self-efficacy/self-esteem: Procrastinators who have little difficulty downregulating negative affect caused by procrastination stress may experience high sense of achievement after successfully completing tasks at the last minute, which might increase their self-efficacy and self-esteem. The results of all three studies indicate that the moderator effect of AOT depends on another moderator: age. High AOT reverses the negative relationship between procrastination and self-efficacy/self-esteem in young students only; with increasing age, the moderator effect of AOT becomes reversed. This indicates that social meaning of tasks and procrastination should be considered as an important factor when studying negative outcomes of procrastination. |