pro-, meaning “forward”, and crastinus, meaning “of tomorrow”.
Procrastination is a very prevalent and detrimental failure of self-regulation. It can be defined as irrational postponing of important tasks characterized by a lack of energy and persistence, low ability to concentrate, and it can be accompanied by guilt and frustration.
A meta-analysis of research from Steel and Pierce on procrastination shows that there is a weak correlation between procrastination and sensation seeking, neuroticism, or rebelliousness. This research also shows that low achievement motivation, distractibility, task aversiveness, low self-efficacy and a lack of organizational skills can occur. Procrastinators usually score high on impulsivity, and they are unable to delay gratification in order to achieve long-term goals (3). It has also been reported that they have low conscientiousness, high extraversion, and low emotional intelligence (3). Procrastination is associated with low self-confidence, low self-efficacy and stress (1). A possible explanation is that we generally feel strongly about protecting freedom of choice. When we perceive it being threatened, unavailable options become more attractive than the imposed ones (2).
Furthermore, various aspects of maladaptive perfectionism have been linked with procrastination, such as doubting the ability to succeed, interpreting mistakes as failures, being overly critical and worried about performance, having exceedingly high and rigorous expectations, and experiencing guilt and shame (5). So-called “negative perfectionists” are obsessed about external approval, making their self-worth contingent on external success, tending to suppress emotions as a coping mechanism, and feeling depressed after failures (5). This is not to be confused with adaptive perfectionism with is characterized by high standards and low negative self-evaluation (6). Qualities, such as having good organizational abilities and self-determined motivation, tend to reduce procrastination (5).
Wäschle et al. have shown that between procrastination and perceived goal achievement exists a negative feedback loop. This means that more procrastination leads to a reduced perception of progress, which then leads to more procrastination – it’s a vicious circle (4). On the other hand, self-efficacy and a perceived goal achievement can strengthen each other (4).
There are two kinds of procrastinators. The avoidant ones want to delay the discomfort of aversive tasks and escape possible negative feedback, possibly as a strategy to cope with low self-esteem (3). The arousal procrastinators postpone tasks to get the thrill of leaving things until the last minute, moments before the deadline (3). Therefore, not every type of procrastination is necessarily detrimental. The intentional procrastination can be used as a motivational tool to increase performance in a limited time (7). This form of acceptable procrastination, which is used as a success strategy, is termed “functional” or “active” procrastination.
Although procrastination is still not very well understood and is an active area of research, we do have some understanding which qualities and tendencies increase it, and which can diminish it. Besides instant gratification, what can help us fight procrastination are things like: improving intrinsic motivation, having good organizational skill, regulating self-doubt and task aversiveness.
References:
1. Gagnon, J., Dionne, F. & Pychyl, T. A. Committed action: An initial study on its association to procrastination in academic settings. J. Context. Behav. Sci. 5, 97–102 (2016).
2. Malatincová, T. The mystery of ‘should’: Procrastination, delay, and reactance in academic settings. Personal. Individ. Differ. 72, 52–58 (2015).
3. Lyons, M. & Rice, H. Thieves of time? Procrastination and the Dark Triad of personality. Personal. Individ. Differ. 61–62, 34–37 (2014).
4. Wäschle, K., Allgaier, A., Lachner, A., Fink, S. & Nückles, M. Procrastination and self-efficacy: Tracing vicious and virtuous circles in self-regulated learning. Learn. Instr. 29, 103–114 (2014).
5. Burnam, A., Komarraju, M., Hamel, R. & Nadler, D. R. Do adaptive perfectionism and self-determined motivation reduce academic procrastination? Learn. Individ. Differ. 36, 165–172 (2014).
6. Rice, K. G., Ashby, J. S. & Slaney, R. B. Perfectionism and the Five-Factor Model of Personality. Assessment 14, 385–398 (2007).
7. Kandemir, M. & Palancı, M. Academic Functional Procrastination: Validity and Reliability Study. Procedia – Soc. Behav. Sci. 152, 194–198 (2014).