PROCRASTINATION AND SELF-CONCEPT IN MORE/LESS CONSCIENTIOUS STUDENTS

Abstract

"Given its significant negative consequences for university students, procrastination has been studied extensively and shown to be associated with conscientiousness as a personality trait. Involving 333 university students doing teacher training programmes (68.5% female; Mage=20.51 (SD=1.61); 83.48% undergraduates doing a bachelor’s degree), our study aimed to explore the association between procrastination among more/less conscientious students and selected self-concept variables (self-control, self-efficacy, etc.). Our questionnaire was based on the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (Gosling, Rentfrow, Swann, 2003), the Self-Control Scale (Finkenauer, Engels, Baumeister, 2005), the Self-efficacy Scale (Ko?š, Hefteyova, Schwarzer, Jerusalem, 1993), and the Procrastination Scale for Student Populations (Gabrhelík, 2008); our control variables were gender and well- being (Subjective Well-Being Scale, Chan-Hoong, Soon, 2011). The sample was divided into two groups – (1) less conscientious and (2) more conscientious) – using the method of visual binning in SPSS 20. A t-test for independent samples and linear regression were used for data analysis. The less conscientious students in our sample reported a higher level of procrastination (t=6.479; df=310; p?0.001; Cohen's d=0.681). A linear model was conducted for both groups (the dependent variable being the level of procrastination, the independent variables being gender and the levels of self-control, self-efficacy, and well-being). Both models were significant ((1) F=8.449; p?0.001; R2=32.6; (2) F= 7.277; p?0.001; R2=25.7). Among the less conscientious students, the levels of self-control (?=-0.546; t=-5.262; p?0.001) and self-efficacy (?=-0.238; t=-2.092; p?0.001) were negatively associated with procrastination. Among the more conscientious students, the level of self-control (?=0.404; t=-3.929; p?0.001) was negatively associated with procrastination and “being a man” (0–man; 1–woman) (?=-0.307; t=-3.219; p?0.05) was significantly associated with the level of procrastination. The results of our study show trait and personality differences in the level of procrastination, highlighting the importance of self-control and self-efficacy development among university students. Interactive programmes with an impact on students’ self-concept can be a significant contribution to students’ ability to cope with their study requirements effectively. It could be argued that the limits of this study include cross-sectional and self-reported data."