Procrastination and the five-factor model: A facet level analysis

Abstract

Procrastination has been viewed both as a single trait dimension and as a complex trait composed of several component antecedents. The aim of this study was to investigate some of the antecedents of procrastination (fear of failure, aversiveness of task, risk taking, rebellion against control, dependency, and difficulty making decisions) in terms of the five factors of personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness and Conscientiousness). The participants consisted of 349 university students who completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and the Procrastination Assessment Scale for students. Total procrastination was related to both the low conscientiousness facets (competence, order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline, deliberation) and the neuroticism facets (anxiety, depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness, vulnerability). When the procrastination antecedents were considered, task aversiveness had a strong relationship to both low conscientiousness and neuroticism. Fear of failure, difficulty making decisions, and dependency had a smaller relationship to several of the conscientiousness and neuroticism facets. In addition, risk-taking was negatively related to agreeableness and the fantasy facet of openness to experience was related to total procrastination. © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.