Irrational Delay Revisited: Examining Five Procrastination Scales in a Global Sample

Abstract

Scales attempting to measure procrastination focus on different facets of the phenomenon, yet they share a common understanding of procrastination as an unnecessary, unwanted, and disadvantageous delay. The present paper examines in a global sample (N = 4,169) five different procrastination scales – Decisional Procrastination Scale (DPS), Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS), Pure Procrastination Scale (PPS), Adult Inventory of Procrastination Scale (AIP), and General Procrastination Scale (GPS), focusing on factor structures and item functioning using Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Item Response Theory. The results indicated that The PPS (12 items selected from DPS, AIP, and GPS) measures different facets of procrastination even better than the three scales it is based on. An even shorter version of the PPS (5 items focusing on irrational delay), corresponds well to the nine-item IPS. Both scales demonstrate good psychometric properties and appear to be superior measures of core procrastination attributes than alternative procrastination scales.

Relations Between Student Procrastination and Teaching Styles: Autonomy-Supportive and Controlling

“…In this research, procrastination was considered as both a general tendency and as specific to individuals, taking into account those instruments that better integrate the multi-faceted nature of procrastination (according to the analysis provided by Díaz-Morales et al, 2006). Thus, we used the General Procrastination Scale (GP; Lay, 1986), the Decisional Procrastination Questionnaire (DP; Mann, 1982, Unpublished), the Adult Inventory of Procrastination (AIP; McCown and Johnson, 1989) and the Pure Procrastination Scale (PP; Steel, 2010), consisting of 12 items stemming from the three previous scales, which has shown its potential – in comparison to the rest of procrastination measures – elsewhere (e.g., Steel, 2010; Svartdal and Steel, 2017). The Spanish translation by Díaz-Morales et al (2006) was used in all cases and reliability of all these scales was acceptable (α GP = 0.754; α DP = 0.807; α AIP = 0.853; α PP = 0.832).…”

Young University Students’ Academic Self-Regulation Profiles and Their Associated Procrastination: Autonomous Functioning Requires Self-Regulated Operations

“…However, procrastination has proven to be a construct with multiple facets (Svartdal and Steel, 2017), including decisional procrastination, linked with subpar planning and decision making (Mann, 1982;Mann et al, 1997); general procrastination, centered on behavioral implemental deLay (1986); and a lateness factor, linked with failing to meet deadlines (McCown and Johnson, 1989). Furthermore, cyclical models of self-regulation (Zimmerman, 1998) suggest that dysregulations such as poor decision-making skills or low perseverance may both lead to procrastination, low achievement and, thus, to frustration and lower wellbeing.…”

“…Self-regulation and procrastination are closely linked constructs (Steel and Klingsieck, 2016;Steel et al, 2018). Self-regulation includes a dimension of perseverance, as well as self-motivational and strategic aspects (Dewitte and Lens, 2000;Garzón-Umerenkova et al, 2017), whereas procrastination is a self-regulation failure (Steel, 2010), which includes a distinct emphasis on implemental or decisional delays, prompting the failure to meet deadlines, known as lateness factor (Svartdal and Steel, 2017).…”

“…However, the pathways through which procrastination may be counteracted by self-regulation are subject to much discussion (Dewitte and Lens, 2000;Svartdal and Steel, 2017). This is especially true given that self-regulation is based on conscious operations and strategies that can supposedly be learned and improved (Pintrich and De Groot, 1990;Zimmerman, 2008), whereas procrastination has been argued to be an irrational deLay (1986), rooted in personal trait-like individual differences (Steel, 2010).…”

“…Based on the measurement of three distinct facets of procrastination (implemental delay, decisional procrastination, and lateness; Svartdal and Steel, 2017) we hypothesized a structural model in which procrastination variations were predicted both by a pathway from trait-level perseverance (which is supposed to be difficult to influence, given that it is considered a trait) to implemental delay; and by a pathway from self-regulatory strategies, such as learning from mistakes, goal setting, and decision making (which are supposed to allow for development and improvement) to decisional procrastination.…”