Procrastination Research Report
On Levels of Academic Procrastination: Sex and Chronotypical Differences in Students
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore whether sex differences and chronotypical orientation (morningness-eveningness) differences exist in levels of procrastination. The sample consisted of 165 undergraduate English university students who responded to a procrastination inventory. Participants most frequently identified as chronic to severe procrastinators across groups. Contrary to previous findings, neither sex displayed differences in their levels of procrastination, nor did evening and morning chronotype differ in procrastination intensity. Although the study needs to be replicated with a larger, evenly between groups distributed sample, it was concluded that most participants classified as chronic to severe procrastinators which has implications for universities to take measures to lower academic procrastination amongst students.
Procrastination has more and more become a matter of interest across multiple disciplines (Ainsle, 2005); reaching from finance, as people put off their tax returns, or dealing with money troubles (Kasper, 2004), to medicine, where people postpone seeing their doctors (Siriois, 2007). Lingering concerns and allowing them to accumulate over time, is believed to be on the rise (Kachgal et al., 2001) as the failure of other self-regulatory behaviours increased over the past 25 years (Griffith & Parke, 2002). Procrastination also emerges to be a distressing phenomenon with over 95 per cent of people wanting to minimise it (O’Brien, 2002) and generally characterising it as bad, regretful, damaging and idiotic (Briody, 1980). Consistent with this perspective, procrastinators have been found to perform more poorly overall (Steel, Brothen, & Wambach, 2001) and to be more despondent in their well-being, long-term (Tice & Baumeister, 1997).
A range of definitions currently coexists as to what constitutes procrastination
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore whether sex differences and chronotypical orientation (morningness-eveningness) differences exist in levels of procrastination. The sample consisted of 165 undergraduate English university students who responded to a procrastination inventory. Participants most frequently identified as chronic to severe procrastinators across groups. Contrary to previous findings, neither sex displayed differences in their levels of procrastination, nor did evening and morning chronotype differ in procrastination intensity. Although the study needs to be replicated with a larger, evenly between groups distributed sample, it was concluded that most participants classified as chronic to severe procrastinators which has implications for universities to take measures to lower academic procrastination amongst students.
Procrastination has more and more become a matter of interest across multiple disciplines (Ainsle, 2005); reaching from finance, as people put off their tax returns, or dealing with money troubles (Kasper, 2004), to medicine, where people postpone seeing their doctors (Siriois, 2007). Lingering concerns and allowing them to accumulate over time, is believed to be on the rise (Kachgal et al., 2001) as the failure of other self-regulatory behaviours increased over the past 25 years (Griffith & Parke, 2002). Procrastination also emerges to be a distressing phenomenon with over 95 per cent of people wanting to minimise it (O’Brien, 2002) and generally characterising it as bad, regretful, damaging and idiotic (Briody, 1980). Consistent with this perspective, procrastinators have been found to perform more poorly overall (Steel, Brothen, & Wambach, 2001) and to be more despondent in their well-being, long-term (Tice & Baumeister, 1997).
A range of definitions currently coexists as to what constitutes procrastination
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