The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Procrastination Among University Students

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Introduction

Procrastination – a phenomenon that has become increasingly prevalent in contemporary society – has developed to the extent that it not only affects university students, but also the general population. Although the notion of procrastination dates back to approximately 800BC (Steel, 2007), studies up until today have failed to understand the causes of procrastination. Ferrari (1994) argues for this notion stating that procrastination “remains one of the least understood human miseries” (p.673 as cited in Klassen, Krawchuk, & Rajani, 2008). Furthermore, tentative evidence, as studies have shown, suggests that procrastination significantly exacerbates both health and academic performance (Klassen et al.,2008;Sirin,2008;Choi & Chun Chu,2005;Tan,Ang,Klassen,Yeo,Wong,Huan & Chong,2008;& Rabin,Fogel,&Nutter-Upham,2011).Following from this, there has been a proliferation of literature surrounding procrastination and its consequences. Such consequences, as studies have shown, include high levels of stress, depression, anxiety, low self-efficacy, fear of failure and other health- risk behaviours. However, this assignment shall only take one consequence-that being self-efficacy- into account. Thus, the purpose of this literature review is to establish whether a relationship-if any- exists between self-efficacy and procrastination among university students. Firstly, an attempt to operationally define the two variables (procrastination and self-efficacy) shall be made. Next, relevant literature will be reviewed to address the research question.

Definition of procrastination

Although many authors have attempted to define procrastination, pinpointing its precise definition in current literature, remains an area of uncertainty (...

... middle of paper ...

...lf-efficacy and procrastination measure” (Klassen et al., 2008, p.922).

Although many studies indicate that a relationship- strong or weak- exist between self-efficacy and procrastination, tentative new research seem to suggest otherwise. Sirin (2011) investigated the relationship between procrastination and self-efficacy and found that the two variables do not relate. The findings- although inconclusive and contradictory to previous studies- suggest that students had a strong belief that graduating from university was possible. These findings similar to that of Chun Chu & Choi’s (2005) observation that personalities as well as other individual factors play a role in mediating the relationship between procrastination and self-efficacy. Following from this, it is suggested that self-efficacy may not be the only variable associated with the onset of procrastination.

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