Abstract
Abstract. Procrastination can result in poor wellbeing and performance in academia and the workplace. The present study combined personality and motivational explanations by examining procrastination through the lens of Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST), which assumes that personality traits are underpinned by basic systems of approach and avoidance motivation. Students (N = 336; Mage = 21.34) and non-students (N = 187; Mage = 37.98) completed the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ), measures of unintentional and general procrastination and, for students only, a measure of academic procrastination. In both samples, high impulsivity and high Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) activation was associated with reports of general procrastination. In students, high Reward Reactivity (RR) was additionally associated with Unintentional Procrastination (UP), while low Goal-drive Persistence was associated with all forms of procrastination. These data suggest a role for both approach and avoidance motivations in procrastination. Results are discussed in terms of RST and implications for intervention.
References
2012). An investigation into the self-handicapping behaviors of undergraduates in terms of academic procrastination, the locus of control and academic success. Journal of Education and Learning, 1, 288–297. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v1n2p288
(2013). Academic procrastination, academic life satisfaction and academic achievement: The mediation role of rational beliefs about studying. Journal of Cognitive & Behavioral Psychotherapies, 13, 57–74.
(1996). Self-regulation failure: An overview. Psychological Inquiry, 7, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0701_1
(2016). Procrastination, distress and life satisfaction across the age range: A German representative community study. PLoS One, 11, e0148054. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148054
(2008).
(Reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST): Introduction . In P. J. CorrEd., The reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality (pp. 1–43). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.2013). Approach and avoidance behavior: Multiple systems and their interactions. Emotion Review, 5, 286–291. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073913477507
(2016). Reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality questionnaires: Structural survey with recommendations. Personality and Individual Differences, 89, 60–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.09.045
(2016). The reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality questionnaire (RST-PQ): Development and validation. Psychological Assessment, 28, 1427–1440. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000273
(2014). Trait approach motivation moderates the aftereffects of self-control. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1112. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01112
(2000). Procrastination: A means of avoiding shame and guilt? Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 15, 167–184.
(2017). The unintentional procrastination scale. Journal of Rational-Emotive Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 35, 136–149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-016-0247-x
(2008). Metacognitions about procrastination: A preliminary investigation. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36, 359–364. https://doi.org/10.1017/S135246580800413X
(2000). The neuropsychology of anxiety: An enquiry into the functions of the Septo-hippocampal System (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
(2015). The relationship between procrastination and academic performance: A meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 82, 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.038
(2008). Academic procrastination of undergraduates: Low self-efficacy to self-regulate predicts higher levels of procrastination. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33, 915–931. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2007.07.001
(2013). Procrastination. When good things don’t come to those who wait. European Psychologist, 18, 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000138
(1986). At last, my research article on procrastination. Journal of Research in Personality, 20, 474–495. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-6566(86)90127-3
(2015). Finally! The development and validation of the Academic Procrastination Scale. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273259879_Finally_The_Development_and_Validation_of_the_Academic_Procrastination_Scale. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23164.64640
(2011). Üniversite öğrencilerinin akademik erteleme nedenler
([The reasons for academic procrastination among university students] . Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, Sayı, 21, 45–72.2009). Exploring academic procrastination among Turkish students: Possible gender differences in prevalence and reasons. The Journal of Social Psychology, 149, 241–257. https://doi.org/10.3200/SOCP.149.2.241-257
(2007). Fear and anxiety as separable emotions: An investigation of the revised reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality. Emotion, 7, 252–261. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.252
(2001). Study motivation under social temptation; effects of trait procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 229–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00034-9
(1995). Trait procrastination and the big-five factors of personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 18, 481–490. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(94)00176-S
(2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 65–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65
(2018). Examining procrastination across multiple goal stages: A longitudinal study of temporal motivation theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00327
(2001). Worry, procrastination, and perfectionism: Differentiating amount of worry, pathological worry, anxiety, and depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 25, 49–60. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026474715384
(2012). For fun, love, or money: What drives workaholic, engaged, and burned‐out employees at work? Applied Psychology, 61, 30–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2011.00454.x
(2003). A meta-analytically derived nomological network of procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 1401–1418. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00358-6
(2001). Procrastination and the five-factor model: A facet level analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 149–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00019-2
(2012). Belonging to tomorrow: An overview of procrastination. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 4, 211. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijps.v4n1p211
(