This study examined the effects of time, gender, locus of control, and perceived controllability on the differential effectiveness of selected treatment approaches to the reduction of academic procrastination. A sample of 122 male and female college students was randomly assigned to one of three groups: behavioural, cognitive-behavioural, or study skills. Treatments were administered via self-instruction modules for five consecutive weeks. Three univariate analyses, one for each of the self-report measures of procrastination, examined the main effects and interactions of the independent variables. According to the findings the effects of gender, locus of control, and perceived controllability did not result in any differential effectiveness of treatment approaches. Male subjects reduced procrastination over time more than did female subjects. A significant portion of the between-subjects variance on measures of procrastination was accounted for by the pooled effects of locus of control and perceived controllability. Male subjects, depending upon their perceived locus of control and their level of perceived controllability, differentially reduced procrastination over time regardless of the treatment approach to which they were exposed. The need for counsellors to explore strategies to increase clients' beliefs that they can control and therefore change their own behaviour is addressed. Methodological concerns regarding aptitude-treatment interaction studies and recommendations for future research are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.41112 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Havel, Alice |
| Contributors | Dumont, F. R. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001337932, proquestno: NN87860, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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