Differences in the Prevalence of and Reasons for Academic Procrastination Between Undergraduate and Graduate Students

• In Event: Motivation in Education SIG Poster Session: Motivational Processes and Effects

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to assess differences between undergraduate and graduate students’ prevalence of and reasons for engaging in academic procrastination. Most students reported engaging in procrastination when writing term papers, studying for exams, and keeping up with weekly readings, reported such procrastination as problematic, and indicated wanting to reduce their procrastination on these tasks. MANOVA results additionally demonstrated that undergraduate students’ prevalence of procrastination was higher when studying for exams compared with graduate students. Results from two PCA’s revealed undergraduates to report procrastination due to a fear of failure and task aversiveness, while graduate students’ procrastination was driven by a fear of failure and a lack of assertion. Implications and future directions are also discussed.

Authors

• Sonia Rahimi, Université du Québec à Montréal

• Nathan C. Hall, McGill University