Assessment of Academic and Everyday Procrastination

Abstract

As indicated in Chapter 1, there is reason to believe that procrastination is an important subject for empirical research. Tasks that are not completed promptly may reduce both individual performance and organizational effectiveness (Ferrari, 1993a; 1994). Furthermore, they may be a source of stress to those individuals who are expected to complete the tasks (McKean, 1990). Articles and books on procrastination have appeared recently in the popular press (e.g., Burka {&} Yuen, 1983; Cornyn-Selby, 1986; Ellis {&} Knaus, 1977; Gagliard, 1984; Knaus, 1973). Useful theory and research have begun to be conducted. However, before theory construction and substantial research are performed, precise measurement of the construct is needed. Our purpose in this Chapter is to address the psychometric properties of several self-report measures of procrastination.