Exploring individual physiological correlates of procrastination with a deadline rush model

Abstract

Measuring procrastination is critical to discovering how procrastination impacts individuals. Studies have frequently adopted methodologies to quantify procrastination after task deadlines have passed. However, there are no models and strategies to predict procrastination while individuals are still working on tasks. The present exploratory study investigates the individual correlates of eye movement and physiological responses with procrastination. We conducted laboratory experiments with 18 participants and recorded their physiological data during the experiments. Participants’ procrastination levels were computed based on individual behavioral data collected during task completion. For most participants, the number of eye fixations, fixation rate, and standard deviation of skin temperature were related to procrastination. Our preliminary findings can be used to direct future research on modeling procrastination using combinations of eye movement and physiological responses with individual customizations.