Procrastination and Perceptions of Past, Present, and Future
Author(s): Todd Jackson, April Fritch, Takeo Nagasaka, Laurie Pope
Abstract: This research evaluated assumptions of self-regulation and specious rewards explanations of procrastination which postulate that a reduced focus on the future among procrastinators is due to their increased focus on current concerns and immediate rewards. In Study 1,147 college undergraduates completed self-report measures of procrastination and past, present and future time perspectives. Consistent with these theories, high levels of procrastination were predicted by a reduced focus on the future. However, contrary to assumptions of these models, procrastination was also predicted by high levels of fatalism, rather than hedonism, about the present and negative attitudes about the past. This pattern of findings was replicated in Study 2 (n = 160), after controlling for level of current negative affect. Low levels of structured, subjectively meaningful use of time also contributed to procrastination, beyond the impact of negative affect or perceptions of the past, present, and future. Together, findings suggest that explanations invoking failures in self-regulation or preoccupations with specious rewards to account for procrastinators' reduced focus on setting and carrying out future goals require modification.
Pages: 17-28
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