A Comparative Study of Motivational Factors and Personality Traits in Academic and Non Academic Procrastinators

Abstract

Procrastination involves delaying of tasks or activities till the deadline approaches. The pattern of procrastination with its negative effects is spread in all major areas of life. It is particularly prevalent in the academic setting where students have lots of things to do in limited time. The present research studies the association of academic and non-academic procrastination in relation to motivation factors- Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, and Amotivation (based on the Self-Determination Theory by Deci and Ryan, 1985) and personality traits- Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism (based on the Five Factor Model by McCraeand Costa, 1996). newlineA total of 600 participants (457 males and143 females) - 300 high procrastinators and 300 low procrastinators, in the age group 17-19 years were selected for the study. All of them studied in the undergraduate courses of technical colleges of Punjab. The tools used were- Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students (PASS) developed by L. J. Solomon and E. D. Rothblum (1984), General Procrastination Scale (GPS) developed by C.H. Lay (1986), Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) developed by R. J. Vallerand et al. (1992) and Big Five Inventory (BFI) developed by V. Benet-Martinez and Oliver P. John (1998). newlineThe statistics used to analyze the data obtained were t-test, 2X2 ANOVA, percentage analysis and chi-square test. T-test analysis indicated that high and low academic procrastinators differ in their non-academic procrastination tendencies emphasizing the fact that procrastination is a habit because of which an individual delays performing tasks or initiation of a task irrespective of the field, academic or non- newlinev newlineacademic.2X2 ANOVA for the factors of motivation revealed a significant difference between high and low, academic and non-academic procrastinators on intrinsic motivation and amotivation with high procrastinators possessing more of amotivation and less of intrinsic motivation.