The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which secondary students in the Arts and Sciences programme procrastinate on school work, the extent to which these students perceive procrastination as a problem which they would like to change and the extent to which procrastination affects academic achievement. The study also sought to discover differences in procrastination related to gender and grade. Furthermore, this study assessed cognitions related to procrastination. Positive and negative self-statements were examined to determine whether high and low procrastinators endorse particular types of cognitive themes. The Procrastination Self-Statement Inventory was administered to 204 Arts and Sciences students from two secondary schools in a suburban/rural community in British Columbia. Part A of the inventory asked students to respond to 41 positive and negative self-statements. Part B asked students to respond to 12 questions about study habits and was used to determine a Procrastination Score for each student. Demographic data pertaining to gender, grade, age, academic achievement and future plans were also collected. Data about the extent of procrastination among secondary students and the degree to which students see this as a problem which they would like to change were examined using descriptive statistics. Inferential statistics were used to test eight hypotheses. Analyses of variance determined the statistically significant differences between the means of specified groups on certain variables. The results of the study confirm that secondary students in the Arts and Sciences programme do procrastinate on academic tasks and do see this as a problem that they would like to change. Results also indicate that there are no significant differences in the extent of procrastination among males and females but that there are differences related to grade level. However, a trend in procrastination related to length of time spent in school was not evident. Furthermore, the results confirm that procrastination has a negative impact on academic achievement. Finally, the results of the study suggest that low procrastinators endorse positive self-statements more than do high procrastinators and that high procrastinators endorse negative self-statements more than do low procrastinators. The low procrast1nators in the sample endorsed the following subscales: Facilitative Planfulness, Work Facilitative Items and Perfectionism. High procrastinators endorsed these subscales: Negativistic Intolerance, Immobilizing Mood, Low Self-Competence, Unrealistic Planning, Low Self-Control, Risktaking and Low Self-Esteem. Significant gender effects were found on the Risktaking subscale while significant grade effects were found on the Perfectionism subscale. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Academic procrastination is a highly prevalent issue among students of all education levels and is associated with negative outcomes across many domains (e.g., grades, and physical and mental health, Zentall, 2021). Currently, the majority of research on academic procrastination and its impact on educational outcomes implements questionnaires or self-reports, which are not cohesive with a behavior-analytic approach to procrastination. This situation limits a behavioral understanding of procrastination, and thus the development of effective related interventions. The present study aimed to contribute to this gap by testing the relationship between performance in a systematic replication of the academic discounting task (ADT) designed by Olsen et al. (2018) and three temporally-based measures of academic procrastination, which were collected via the students’ course progress in their Learning Management System platforms (D2L): (a) latency to turn assignments in hours (LTA; average time in hours that elapsed between when the assignments were made available by the instructor and the student turned them in), (b) latency of starting to work on assignments in hours (LWA; average time in hours it takes a student to start working on assignments after the instructor has made them available), and (c) time-to-deadline of submitting assignments in hours (TTD; average time in hours between the time assignments were due and when they were submitted). An association between TTD and ADT k values (a measure of rate of discounting), as well as an association between the three behavioral measures was found. Also, a significant difference in ADT k values between students who reported being employed versus unemployed students was observed. Lastly, a positive association between TTD and ADT k values, and a negative association between TTD and ADT AUC values was found; namely, high rates of discounting during the ADT predicted less postponement of assignment submission. These findings altogether provide additional support for the validity of the ADT as a measure of hyperbolic discounting of academic outcomes and the relevance of the three behavioral measures of academic procrastination. However, the unexpected finding that participants who submitted their assignments earlier displayed higher rates of academic discounting during the ADT does not support Olsen et al.’s prediction that delayed academic rewards are the key contributor to student procrastination. Alternatively, it seems that more research is needed to explore the role of aversive factors in procrastination (e.g., effort required to complete the assignment and/or difficulty of the assignment or probability that the hypothetical assignment would produce the related reinforcers, such as a good grade).

The relationships between procrastination, self-regulation, and fatigue were assessed. Previous researchers have suggested that procrastination is positively related to fatigue (Gropel&Steel, 2008), and that the use of self-regulation results in higher levels of fatigue (Muraven, Tice,&Baumeister, 1998). In the present study, I proposed that self-regulation is the mechanism underlying the relationship between procrastination and fatigue. Undergraduate students (N=110) first completed an in-lab questionnaire, then completed 15 online questionnaires per week for three weeks. The online questionnaires assessed sleeping and waking habits, along with reports of state fatigue. Procrastination was assessed through the time spent putting off getting out of bed each morning. Participants were split into two groups, and the experimental group was instructed to use an alarm clock without a snooze button during Week 2. Three findings were of interest. First, in contrast to global, self-reported behavior, aggregated measures of daily self-reported procrastination indicated a positive relationship with trait measures of procrastination, suggesting that global self-reports of behavior delay should be interpreted with caution. Second, trait procrastination was found to be a significant predictor of the amount of time spent delaying getting out of bed in the morning; however, the amount of time spent delaying getting out of bed in the morning was not predictive of subjective morning or afternoon fatigue. Finally, partial support was provided for a relationship between trait procrastination and state fatigue after accounting for other variables which have been shown to predict state subjective fatigue (e.g., neuroticism and anxiety; Ackerman, Kanfer,&Wolman, 2008). Based on these findings, I suggest that a stronger relationship exists between procrastination and fatigue at the trait level than the state level, and the state-level relationship may operate through a mechanism other than self-regulation.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-100). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 174-198). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 174-198). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1989. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-147). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Georgia Southern University, 2007. / "A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science." Under the direction of Katherine E. Wiegand. ETD. Electronic version approved: May 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-65) and appendices.

No description available.