Current research has paid little attention to contextual or social factors that may contribute to procrastination. One social factor, which may influence procrastination, is group work among students. Compared to individual work, group work can enhance individual effort and performance when the individual's contribution is indispensable for group success. In a field experiment, students with high levels of trait procrastination completed a typical academic assignment (i.e., compiling a bibliography), either in group work with an indispensable contribution or in individual work. Lower procrastination and higher performance were found in group work with an indispensable contribution as compared to individual work. Exploration of positive and negative task-related affect revealed no differences between conditions. Results add to the current theoretical understanding of procrastination and might inspire a new approach, which aims at preventing procrastination by changes in the learning environment.

目前的研究很少关注可能导致拖延的背景或社会因素。一个可能影响拖延的社会因素是学生之间的小组合作。与个人工作相比，当个人的贡献对于团队的成功必不可少时，团队工作可以提高个人的努力和绩效。在实地实验中，具有高水平拖延特质的学生完成了一项典型的学术任务（即编写参考书目），无论是在具有不可或缺的贡献的小组工作中还是在个人工作中。与个人工作相比，在小组工作中发现了更低的拖延和更高的表现，这是不可或缺的贡献。对积极和消极的任务相关影响的探索显示条件之间没有差异。