Reconsidering active procrastination: Relations to motivation and achievement in college anatomy

doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2014.10.012

Learning and Individual Differences

Volume 36, December 2014, Pages 157-164

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2014.10.012 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
Active procrastination is multidimensional in the context of undergraduate anatomy.
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Behavioral measures question the nature of two active procrastination factors.
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Active procrastination factors are distinct in regard to motivation and achievement.
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Self-efficacy moderates the effect of task value on time-usage tendencies.
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Engaging in passive procrastination predicts low anatomy grades.

Abstract

This study examined passive and active procrastination among undergraduate anatomy students in terms of background variables, motivational beliefs (i.e., belief about the speed of knowledge acquisition, self-efficacy, and task value), and grades. Factor analysis revealed three discrete factors of active procrastination, one of which was closely tied to passive procrastination and behavioral procrastination. Analyses indicated that the relations to motivational beliefs and grades were markedly different for, on the one hand, two factors of active procrastination (positive relations) and, on the other hand, passive procrastination and the third factor of active procrastination (negative relations). After controlling for academic ability, only passive procrastination was a statistically significant predictor of grades. Results imply that the dimensions of active procrastination that appear adaptive for learning may not reflect behavioral procrastination, whereas the dimension of active procrastination that involves behavioral procrastination lacks adaptive associations.

Section snippets

Conceptions of passive and active procrastination

As defined by Choi and Moran (2009), four factors comprise active procrastination. First, outcome satisfaction indicates that the students are pleased with their results. Second, preference for pressure indicates that the students like to work quickly under deadlines. Third, intentional decision indicates that the students deliberately postpone tasks. Fourth, ability to meet deadlines indicates that the students complete activities on time. Such definitions reflect marked differences between

Motivational beliefs in relation to procrastination

Beliefs about learning inform students' academic motivation, which directs efforts toward educational goals (Eccles, 1983, Schommer, 1994). Previous research established certain motivational beliefs as adaptive due to their consistent connections to effort, persistence, and learning (Paulsen and Feldman, 2007, Wolters et al., 1996). The degree to which procrastination exhibits or lacks associations with motivational beliefs indicates whether it is adaptive or maladaptive (Corkin et al., 2011).

Academic ability and achievement in relation to procrastination

Whether scholars consider procrastination to be educationally adaptive is based on links to motivation, discussed above, as well as to academic achievement (Corkin et al., 2011). Prior research has established a strong negative association between passive procrastination and grades (Strunk and Steele, 2011, Tice and Baumeister, 1997). Conversely, college students describe intentional procrastination as having either no effect or a positive effect on grades (Schraw et al., 2007). Choi and Moran

The present study

Trends in the literature suggest a need to reexamine the factors of active procrastination with respect to variables that reflect adaptive motivation and achievement. Such analyses must account for the contribution of academic ability. There is also a need to test the construct validity of active procrastination and establish whether its factors reflect procrastination behaviorally. The present study addresses these needs, with the major purpose of examining the factors of active

Method

The following section provides an overview of participants and the measures they completed. Scales measured motivation and procrastination. Behavioral measures provided evidence of task delay.

Results

The following results examine procrastination through relations to motivational beliefs and achievement, with particular emphasis on differentiating between passive procrastination and the dimensions of active procrastination. Presented first is the factor structure of active procrastination, followed by the results of correlational analyses. Next are the regression analyses that test models predicting procrastination and achievement.

Discussion

The findings distinguished among self-reported passive procrastination and active procrastination factors in terms of motivation, achievement, and behavioral procrastination. The results demonstrated the salience of students' academic ability and beliefs about the nature, attainability, and value of learning anatomy. The study's key contributions relate to the measurement and conceptualization of active procrastination.

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That said, even though the present study suggested that supervisors perceived active procrastinators as less agreeable, these supervisory perceptions may not necessarily lead to lower or biased performance evaluations in reality, provided that supervisors are generally objective and fair and can well differentiate task from contextual performance on the job (Borman & Motowidlo, 1993). Therefore, future research seeking to examine these issues with actual performance ratings of the focal employees would be keenly useful; such examinations could also tell us whether AP benefits job performance as well as satisfaction/wellbeing at work as it does among student samples in school (Corkin et al., 2011; Habelrih & Hicks, 2015; Hensley, 2014, 2016; Kim et al., 2017; Lindt et al., 2014; Schraw et al., 2007). Further, direct interviews with supervisors might reveal more about their nuanced views of active procrastination and its impact in the workplace (e.g., asking supervisors whether AP is disturbing or understandable to them and why) which could inform us on whether or not organizations shall be more accepting of AP if future research finds AP positively contributes to employee performance and/or wellbeing.
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View full text

Reconsidering active procrastination: Relations to motivation and achievement in college anatomy

Highlights

Abstract

Section snippets

Conceptions of passive and active procrastination

Motivational beliefs in relation to procrastination

Academic ability and achievement in relation to procrastination

The present study

Method

Results

Discussion

Learning and Individual Differences

Personality and Individual Differences

Personality and Individual Differences

Contemporary Educational Psychology

Personality and Individual Differences

Personality and Individual Differences

Contemporary Educational Psychology

Learning and Individual Differences

My instructor made me do it: Task characteristics of procrastination

Journal of Marketing Education

Ability and motivation: Assessing individual factors that contribute to university retention

Journal of Educational Psychology

Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory

Self-efficacy: The exercise of control

Correlates and consequences of behavioral procrastination: The effects of academic procrastination, self-consciousness, self-esteem, and self-handicapping

Journal of Social Behavior and Personality

Measuring how college affects students: Social desirability and other potential biases in college student self-reported gains

New Directions for Institutional Research

The relationship of academic cramming to flow experience

College Student Journal

Effect of evaluation threat on procrastination behavior

The Journal of Social Psychology

Family environment, epistemological beliefs, learning strategies, and academic performance: A path analysis

Examining “active” procrastination from a self-regulated learning perspective

Educational Psychology An International Journal of Experimental Educational Psychology

The scree test for the number of factors

Multivariate Behavioral Research

Why not procrastinate? Development and validation of a new active procrastination scale

The Journal of Social Psychology

Rethinking procrastination: Positive effects of “active” procrastination behavior on attitudes and performance

The Journal of Social Psychology

Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis

Practical Assessment Research & Evaluation

Expectancies, values and academic behaviors

In the mind of the actor: The structure of adolescents' achievement task values and expectancy-related beliefs

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

A psychometric evaluation of the Harvey Imposter Phenomenon Scale

Journal of Personality Assessment

Active and passive procrastination: Overall tendencies or domain-specific behaviors? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April 27–May 1, 2013

Multiple regression and beyond

Social desirability bias in CATI, IVR, and web surveys: The effects of mode and question sensitivity

Public Opinion Quarterly