The nature of procrastination

Date
2007
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Abstract
Procrastination is a prevalent and pernicious form of self-regulatory failure that is not entirely understood. Hence, the relevant conceptual, theoretical, and empirical work is reviewed, drawing upon correlational, experimental, and qualitative findings. A meta-analysis of procrastination‟s possible causes and effects, based on 691 correlations, reveals that neuroticism, rebelliousness, and sensation seeking show only a weak connection. Strong and consistent predictors of procrastination were task aversiveness, task delay, self-efficacy, impulsiveness, as well as conscientiousness and its facets of self-control, distractibility, organization, and achievement motivation. These effects prove consistent with Temporal Motivation Theory, an integrative hybrid of expectancy theory and hyperbolic discounting. Continued research into procrastination should not be delayed, especially since its prevalence appears to be growing.
Description
This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record. This is a post print file as per the journal publisher's requirements.
Keywords
Citation
Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65-94.