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Differential incidence of procrastination between blue and white-collar workers

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Abstract

The present study compared chronic procrastination tendencies claimed by “whitecollar” working adults (n = 141) with rates reported by Harriott and Ferrari ( 1996) of “blue-collar” working adults (n - 211). Participants completed reliable and valid measures of everyday procrastination tendencies (decisional, arousal, and avoidant), and socio-demographic items at one of several public forums. Results showed no significant difference between classes of working adults on age, gender, marital status, or the number of children, although “white-collar” workers claimed higher levels of education than “blue-collar” workers. “White-collar” workers also reported significantly higher scores on all three forms of chronic procrastination than “blue-collar” workers. It seems that professional employees report procrastination more frequently than unskilled workers. Further research is needed to explore the causes and consequences associated with differences in chronic procrastination by occupational group.

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Hammer, C.A., Ferrari, J.R. Differential incidence of procrastination between blue and white-collar workers. Curr Psychol 21, 333–338 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-002-1022-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-002-1022-y

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