This dissertation presents a literature review on procrastination and more specifically research involving the domain of academic procrastination, characteristics/traits academic procrastinators exhibit, and two different types of academic procrastinators. Even though a comprehensive theory has not been established, social cognitive theory, attribution theory, and motivation theories contribute to our understanding of academic procrastination. Studies that investigate prevalence of high school and college students who procrastinate in international settings, and more specifically in the United States, are reviewed, along with the literature on the relationship between academic procrastination and achievement. Research has demonstrated with relative consistency that academic procrastination has significant adverse effects on academic progress (Ferrari et al., 2005; Moon & Illingworth, 2005) and that high percentages of undergraduate college students self-report they engage in academic procrastination (Steel, 2007). The literature review is followed by an investigation that utilizes an adapted version of the Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students (Özer & Ferrari, 2011), a self-report instrument, to measure students’ academic procrastination. The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) the percentage of undergraduate college and high school students who self-report academic procrastination; (b) the frequency of academic procrastination among undergraduate college and high school students for the specific academic tasks of studying for exams, completing reading assignments, and writing papers; and (c) the relationship between academic procrastination and achievement of undergraduate college and high school students. Both on specific tasks and overall, significantly more college students report higher procrastination than high school students. Unexpectedly, this study did not find a significant relationship between academic procrastination and academic achievement, as measured by grade point average. This study highlights the importance of considering students’ age when examining academic procrastination.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between active procrastination, self-regulated learning and academic achievement. Participants included 108 undergraduate students enrolled in a first-year elective course at a Canadian university. Students reported their level of active procrastination, cognitive and metacognitive strategy use, self-efficacy for learning and performance, goal quality and self-reported goal attainment over the semester. Measures included the self-report Active Procrastination Scale (APS; Choi & Moran, 2009), the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ; Pintrich Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991) and weekly reflections. Findings revealed: (a) active procrastination was significantly positively related to academic achievement, (b) the ability to meet deadlines was the component of active procrastination most related to SRL variables, and (c) self-reported goal attainment accounted for the most variance in ability to meet deadlines score. Further research is needed to explore the central role of ability to meet deadlines in active procrastination and the order in which SRL variables, active procrastination and negative influence of procrastination predict academic achievement. / Graduate

Prokrastinering är ett mycket allvarligt men också relativt vanligt uppskjutarbeteende, särskilt bland studenter, som kopplas till bland annat stress och dåliga betyg. På senare år har dock forskare argumenterat för existensen av ett gynnsamt uppskjutarbeteende, känt som strategisk förskjutning. Syftet med denna studie var att utforska hur personer som strategiskt förskjuter upplever och hanterar stress i vardagslivet. Detta begrundas i att det saknas forskning om strategisk förskjutning och dess potentiella negativa effekter, vilket behövs eftersom strategisk förskjutning anses vara en gynnsam studiestrategi för studenter. Studiens två frågeställningar var (i) om det fanns det ett signifikant samband mellan strategisk förskjutning och upplevd stress, samt (ii) hur stor del av variansen i upplevd stress kunde förklaras av strategisk förskjutning? För att besvara frågeställningarna delades pappersenkäter ut till studenter på Karlstads universitet. Enkäten bestod av New Active Procrastination scale (mätte strategisk förskjutning), Perceived Stress Scale 10 (mätte upplevd stress), samt bakgrundsfrågor. Resultaten från dataanalysen visade att strategisk förskjutning korrelerade signifikant, medelstarkt och negativt med upplevd stress (r[99] = -0,314, p<0,001). Strategisk förskjutning förklarade 8,9 procent av variansen i upplevd stress. ANOVA-resultatet visade att den förklarade variansen var signifikant (F[1,97] = 10,612, p<0,002). Det fanns en del metodologiska problem med denna studie. Det allvarligaste problemet var översättningen av NAPS, vilket på många sätt inte var adekvat vilket skadade instrumentets liksom studiens reliabilitet och validitet. Studiens resultat bör därför tolkas med försiktighet. / Procrastination is a serious but prevalent type of behavioral delay, especially among college students, associated with negative outcomes like stress and poor grades. Recently however, researchers have proposed the existence of a type of behavioral delay that is beneficial, called strategic delay. The purpose of this study was to explore how people who strategically delay experience and deal with stress in their daily lives. This was rooted in the lack of research exploring the potentially negative effects of strategic behavior, which is needed since strategic delay is considered to be a beneficial study strategy. This study sought out to answer two questions: (i) was there a significant correlation between strategic delay and perceived stress, and (ii) how much of the variance in perceived stress could be explained by strategic delay. To answer the two questions a paper survey study was conducted. The survey consisted of New Procrastination Scale (measured perceived stress), Perceived Stress Scale 10 (measured perceived stress), and background questions. The results from the data analysis showed that strategic delay correlates significantly, moderately and negatively with perceived stress (r[99] = -0,314, p<0,001). Strategic delay explained 8.9 percent of the variance in perceived stress. An ANOVA showed that the explained variance was significant (F[1,97] = 10,612, p<0,002). There were quite a few methodological issues with study. The most serious one was the translation of NAPS, which was in many ways far from well executed. This hurt the scale’s as well as the study’s reliability and validity. The results from this study should therefore be interpreted carefully.

Denna studie undersökte aktiv prokrastinering och tillfredsställelse med studieprocess. Prokrastinering kan definieras som ett uppskjutande av arbetsuppgifter med negativa konsekvenser som följd. Till skillnad från traditionell prokrastinering är aktiv prokrastinering adaptiv till sin natur och förknippad med fördelaktiga personliga egenskaper och konsekvenser, vilket lett till att kritiker inte anser att det kan kallas för prokrastinering. Syftet med studien var att undersöka aktiva prokrastinerares tillfredsställelse med sin studieprocess i syfte att nyansera bilden av aktiv prokrastinering samt att utröna huruvida aktiv prokrastinering går att definiera som en form av prokrastinering. Data samlades in genom självskattningsformulär som delades ut till studenter på Linnéuniversitetet. Grupperna aktiva, passiva och ickeprokrastinerare jämfördes på variabeln tillfredsställelse med studieprocess och korrelationer gjordes. Signifikanta skillnader mellan alla grupper hittades, där ickeprokrastinerare var mest tillfredsställda, och passiva prokrastinerare minst tillfredsställda. Resultatet indikerar att aktiva prokrastinerare upplever negativa aspekter av sitt beteende, trots dess adaptiva natur. Självskattningsformuläret för aktiv prokrastinering utvärderas och implikationer av studien diskuteras. / This study examined active procrastination in relation to satisfaction with the studying process. Procrastination can be defined as a delay of tasks that lead to negative consequences for the individual. In contrast to traditional procrastination, active procrastination is adaptive in nature and associated with positive characteristics and consequences, which has spawned criticism that active procrastination cannot properly be defined as procrastination. The purpose of this study was to examine active procrastinator’s satisfaction with their studying process in order to nuance the view of active procrastination as well as determining whether active procrastination can be defined as a form of procrastination. Data was collected through self-report questionnaires distributed to students at Linnaeus University. The groups active, passive and non-procrastinators were compared on the variable satisfaction with the studying process, and correlations were made. All groups were statistically different, with non-procrastinators being the most satisfied and passive procrastinators the least satisfied. The results indicate that active procrastinators experience negative aspects of their behaviour, despite its adaptive nature. The measure of active procrastination is evaluated and implications of the present study are discussed.

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本研究主要目的在探討有學業上拖延習慣的大學生之「防禦性悲觀」、「主動性拖延」、「自我設限」、「因應策略」對「幸福感」影響之探討。依此目的，本研究先探討不同背景變項的大學生在「防禦性悲觀」、「主動性拖延」、「自我設限」、「因應策略」及「幸福感」的差異情形，並建構「防禦性悲觀、主動性拖延、自我設限、因應策略對幸福感影響」之模式。研究採問卷調查法，以台灣15所大學922位有拖延習慣的大學生為對象。並以隨機方式將之分為兩組，用以驗證模式及探究不同背景變項的受試在各研究變項上的差異。研究工具包括防禦性悲觀量表、主動性拖延量表、自我設限量表、因應策略量表、及幸福感量表。資料分析方法為因素分析、信度分析、t考驗、單因子變異數分析及結構方程模式。 / 本研究以第一組樣本探討初始模式與觀察資料間的適配情形，並依據修正指標及相關理論進行模式修正，修正後的模式與資料適配後，再以第二組樣本驗證模式的穩定性，經驗證後模式具相當穩定性。 　　主要研究結果如下： 一、在背景變項方面：(一)不同性別有拖延習慣的大學生在「防禦性悲觀」、「自我設限」及「幸福感」等方面都有顯著差異。(二)不同年級有拖延習慣的大學生在「主動性拖延」及「幸福感」等方面都有顯著差異。 二、在模式方面：（一）防禦性悲觀對幸福感有負向直接效果；(二) 主動性拖延對自我設限有正向直接效果；（三）自我設限對因應策略有負向直接效果；(四) 自我設限對幸福感有正向直接效果；（五）因應策略對幸福感有正向直接效果。(六)主動性拖延經由自我設限及因應策略的中介影響而對幸福感有正向效果。 　　最後，根據研究結果，針對個人、學校輔導單位及未來相關研究提出建議，以供參考。 / The main purpose of this research was to study the relationships among Defensive-pessimism, Active-procrastination, Self-handicapping, Coping-strategy and Well-being of college student who had the habit of procrastination. The researcher first investigated the differences in terms of “Defensive-pessimism”, “Active-procrastination”, “Self-handicapping”, “Coping-strategy” and “Well-being” among the participants who had the different background variables, also studied the relationships among Defensive-pessimism, Active-procrastination, Self-handicapping, Coping-strategy and Well-being of college students who had the habit of procrastination by using the model of “The relationships among Defensive-pessimism, Active-procrastination, Self-handicapping, Coping-strategy and Well-being.” The study employed five questionnaires to collect data . The participants of the study were 922 Taiwan college students who had the habit of academic procrastination from 15 universities, and were randomly divided into two groups, to test model and study the differences in regards of different research variables among the participants who had the different background variables. The participants were evaluated by Defensive-pessimism scale, Active-procrastination scale, Self-handicapping scale, Coping-strategy scale, and Well-being scale. The data were analyzed by factor analysis, Cronbach α analysis, t-test，one-way ANOVA and SEM. / The initial models tested by group one did not fit well with the observed data. Therefore, applying the modification index and the theories, the researcher modified the model till the model fit the observed data, then tested the models’ stability by group two, and came to confirm the stability of model. The researcher found the model fit the observed data, and could effectively explain the relationships among the variables. The main results of this study were as follows: First, about the background variables: 1.The scores of “defensive-pessimism”, “self-handicapping”, and “well-being” had the differences between boys and girls. 2. The scores of “active-procrastination” and “well-being” had the differences between difference grades. Second, about the model: 1. Defensive-pessimism could directly negative affect well-being. 2. Active-procrastination could directly affect self-handicapping. 3. Self-handicapping could directly negative affect coping-strategy. 4. Self-handicapping could directly affect well-being. 5. Coping-strategy could directly affect well-being. 6. Active-procrastination could through the self-handicapping and coping-strategy to affect he well-being. Finally, based on the results of the study, the researcher made some further suggestions for individuals, school counseling and future researchers.