Effect of Self-Efficacy and Eustress on Procrastination: A Multigroup Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Self-efficacy and eutress are motivational elements that lead academic success; while procrastination leads to failure. Self-efficacy and stress have been shown to affect procrastination behaviors, but to what extent? In addition, differences between gender in relation to these variables are evident in the literature. However, these studies are not conclusive. Therefore, this research aimed to establish an explanatory and invariant model of the effect of self-efficacy toward procrastination behaviors, mediated by eutres. Methodology: The method used is structural regressions with latent variables, and multigroup invariance was applied. The sample was nonprobabilistic of 1224 university students (61.5% women) between 18 and 35 years old (M = 22.89; SD = 5.46). Results: Adequate fit indices of the proposed model were found (CFI = 0.951, TLI = 0.943, RMSEA = 0.041) where the direct, indirect and total effect was demonstrated, through the eutres, on postponement and self-regulation. The effect size for self-regulation was large (f2= 0.54) and small for postponement (f2= 0.14). Furthermore, the model turned out to be invariant between men and women. Conclusions: Student with high self-efficacy and positive stress, will be able to self-regulate his academic behavior and avoid postponement of tasks.