Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the predictive value of adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism for academic procrastination in university students and the possible moderating role of different dimensions of academic hardiness. The total sample was consisted of 966 undergraduate students from various departments. They were asked to answer three self-reported questionnaires as regards their perfectionism, procrastination, and hardiness in academic settings. The results showed that adaptive perfectionism is a negative predictor of academic procrastination, while the maladaptive perfectionism is a positive predictor. Two of the three dimensions of academic hardiness, namely commitment and challenge, were found to be significant moderators of the relation between maladaptive perfectionism and academic procrastination, while control was a significant moderator of the relationship between adaptive perfectionism and students’ academic procrastination. The results indicate that finding the academic tasks as highly challenging and being highly committed to personal accomplishment seems to play a moderating role by leading to higher procrastination only for those who feel a high discrepancy between their personal standards and their accomplishments. Having, though, high personal standards and a high level of control seems to reduce academic procrastination.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdollahi, A., Farab, N. M., Panahipour, S., & Allen, K. A. (2020). Academic hardiness as a moderator between evaluative concerns perfectionism and academic procrastination. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 181(5), 365–374. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2020.1783194
Ackerman, D. S., & Gross, B. L. (2005). My instructor made me do it: Task characteristics of procrastination. Journal of Marketing Education, 27(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475304273842
Argiropoulou, M., Kalantzi-Azizi, A., & Ferrari, J. R. (2014). Frequency and reasons for academic procrastination among Greek university students: Shedding light on a darkened yet critical issue. Psychology, 21(2), 150–160.
Author. (2021). Academic procrastination in university students: The role of perfectionism and academic hardiness. Unpublished Master Thesis, School of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Baars, G. J., Schmidt, H. G., Hermus, P., van der Molen, H. T., Arnold, I. J., & Smeets, G. (2021). Which students benefit most from an intervention aimed at reducing academic procrastination?. European Journal of Higher Education, 1-19.https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2021.1999294
Balkis, M., & Duru, E. (2017). Procrastination, self-esteem, academic performance, and well-being: A moderated mediation model. International Journal of Educational Psychology: IJEP, 6(2), 97–119. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijep.2017.2584
Benishek, L. A., & Lopez, F. G. (2001). Development and initial validation of a measure of academic hardiness. Journal of Career Assessment, 9(4), 333–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/10690727010090040
Benishek, L. A., Feldman, J. M., Shipon, R. W., Mecham, S. D., & Lopez, F. G. (2005). Development and evaluation of the revised academic hardiness scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 13(1), 59–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072704270274
Burnam, A., Komarraju, M., Hamel, R., & Nadler, D. R. (2014). Do adaptive perfectionism and self-determined motivation reduce academic procrastination? Learning and Individual Differences, 36, 165–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2014.10.009
Bytamar, J. M., Saed, O., & Khakpoor, S. (2020). Emotion regulation difficulties and academic procrastination. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.524588
Chehrzad, M., Ghanbari, A., Rahmatpour, P., Barari, F., Pourrajabi, A., & Alipour, Z. (2017). Academic procrastination and related factors in students of Guilan University of Medical Science. Journal of Medical Education Development, 11, 352 – 362 URL: http://jmed.ssu.ac.ir/article-1-709-en.html
Cheng, Y., Tsai, C., & Liang, J. (2019). Academic hardiness and academic self-efficacy in graduate studies. Higher Education Research and Development, 38(5), 907–921. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1612858
Codina, N., Valenzuela, R., Pestana, J. V., & Gonzalez-Conde, J. (2018). Relations between student procrastination and teaching styles: Autonomy-supportive and controlling. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00809
Corkin, D. M., Shirley, L. Y., Wolters, C. A., & Wiesner, M. (2014). The role of the college classroom climate on academic procrastination. Learning and Individual Differences, 32, 294–303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2014.04.001
Curran, T., & Hill, A. P. (2019). Perfectionism is increasing over time: A meta-analysis of birth cohort differences from 1989 to 2016. Psychological Bulletin, 145(4), 410–429. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000138
De Meyer, J., Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Aelterman, N., Van Petegem, S., & Haerens, L. (2016). Do students with different motives for physical education respond differently to autonomy-supportive and controlling teaching? Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 22, 72–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2015.06.001
Diamantopoulou, G., & Platsidou, M. (2014). Factorial validity and psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Almost Perfect Scale Revised (APS-R). Hellenic Journal of Psychology, 11, 123–137.
Eerde, W. V. (2000). Procrastination: Self-regulation in Initiating Aversive Goals. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49(3), 372–389. https://doi.org/10.1111/1464-0597.00021
Eerde, W. V. (2003). A meta-analytically derived nomological network of procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 35(6), 1401–1418. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00358-6
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). (2018). EU. https://gdpr.eu/tag/gdpr/
Faraza, S. (2017). Academic procrastination in university students: The role of emotion regulation. Unpublished manuscript. Department of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Faruk, E. (2011). Academic procrastination among undergraduates attending school of physical education and sports: Role of general procrastination, academic motivation and academic self-efficacy. Educational Research and Reviews, 6(5), 447–455. URL: http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
Giovazolias, T., Leontopoulou, S., & Triliva, S. (2010). Assessment of Greek university students’ counselling needs and attitudes: An exploratory study. International Journal for the Advancement of Counceling, 32, 101–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-010-9092-2
Glick, D. M., & Orsillo, S. M. (2015). An investigation of the efficacy of acceptance-based behavioral therapy for academic procrastination. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144(2), 400–409. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000050
Goroshit, M. (2018). Academic procrastination and academic performance: An initial basis for intervention. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 46(2), 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/10852352.2016.1198157
Greek Data Protection Authority. (2019). Decision No. 4624/2019 (Issue A΄ 137/29.08.2019). Data Protection Authority Publishing Service.
Grunschel, C., Patrzek, J., & Fries, S. (2013). Exploring reasons and consequences of academic procrastination: An interview study. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 28(3), 841–861. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-012-0143-4
Haghbin, M., McCaffrey, A., & Pychyl, T. A. (2012). The complexity of the relation between fear of failure and procrastination. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 30(4), 249–263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-012-0153-9
Kamtsios, S., & Karagiannopoulou, E. (2013). Conceptualizing students’ academic hardiness dimensions: A qualitative study. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 28(3), 807–823. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-012-0141-6
Kim, S., Fernandez, S., & Terrier, L. (2017). Procrastination, personality traits, and academic performance: When active and passive procrastination tell a different story. Personality and Individual Differences, 108, 154–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.12.021
Klassen, R. M., Krawchuk, L. L., & Rajani, S. (2008). Academic procrastination of undergraduates: Low self-efficacy to self-regulate predicts higher levels of procrastination. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33(4), 915–931. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2007.07.001
Kline, R. B. (2011). Convergence of structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling. In M. Williams (Ed.), Handbook of methodological innovation. Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage.
Klingsieck, K. B. (2013). Procrastination in different life-domains: Is procrastination domain specific? Current Psychology, 32(2), 175–185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-013-9171-8
Klingsieck, K. B., Grund, A., Schmid, S., & Fries, S. (2013). Why students procrastinate: A qualitative approach. Journal of College Student Development, 54(4), 397–412. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2013.0060
Kobasa, S. C. (1979). Stressful life events, personality, and health: An inquiry into hardiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.37.1.1
Maddi, S. R. (2006). The Journal of Positive Psychology: Dedicated to furthering research and promoting good practice Hardiness: The courage to grow from stresses. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(3), 160–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760600619609
Matt, N. W., & Edwards, S. R. (2008). Self-efficacy as a mediator in the relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and academic procrastination. Social Behavior and Personality, 36(6), 753–764. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2008.36.6.753
Mohammadi Bytamar, J., Zenoozian, S., Dadashi, M., Saed, O., Hemmat, A., & Mohammadi, G. (2017). Prevalence of academic procrastination and its association with metacognitive beliefs in Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Journal of Medical Education Development, 10(27), 84–97. URL: http://zums.ac.ir/edujournal/article-1-870-en.html
Özer, B. U., Demir, A., & Ferrari, J. R. (2010). Exploring academic procrastination among Turkish students: Possible gender differences in prevalence and reasons. The Journal of Social Psychology, 149(2), 241–257. https://doi.org/10.3200/SOCP.149.2.241-257
Pychyl, T. A., & Flett, G. L. (2012). Procrastination and self-regulatory failure: An introduction to the special issue. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 30(4), 203–212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-012-0149-5
Rahimi, S., & Hall, N. C. (2021). Why are you waiting? Procrastination on academic tasks among undergraduate and graduate students. Innovative Higher Education, 46(6), 759–776. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-021-09563-9
Rebetez, M. M. L., Rochat, L., & Van der Linden, M. (2015). Cognitive, emotional, and motivational factors related to procrastination: A cluster analytic approach. Personality and Individual Differences, 76, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.11.044
Roy, S., & Ghosh, R. (2017). Relating multidimensional perfectionism and academic procrastination among Indian university students. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 32(8), 518–534. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-01-2017-0011
Rozental, A., & Carlbring, P. (2014). Understanding and treating procrastination: A review of a common self-regulatory failure. Psychology, 5(13), 1488–1502. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2014.513160
Ryung, K., & Hee, E. (2015). The relationship between procrastination and academic performance: A meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 82, 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.038
Schraw, G., Wadkins, T., & Olafson, L. (2007). Doing the things we do: A grounded theory of academic procrastination. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(1), 12–25. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.99.1.12
Shaked, L., & Altarac, H. (2022). Exploring academic procrastination: Perceptions, self-regulation, and consequences. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 19(3), 1–23. URL: https://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol19/iss3/15
Simpson, W. K., & Pychyl, T. A. (2009). In search of the arousal procrastinator: Investigating the relation between procrastination, arousal-based personality traits and beliefs about procrastination motivations. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(8), 906–911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.07.013
Sirois, F. M. (2004). Procrastination and intentions to perform health behaviors: The role of self-efficacy and the consideration of future consequences. Personality and Individual Differences, 37(1), 115–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2003.08.005
Sirois, F., & Pychyl, T. (2013). Procrastination and the priority of short-term mood regulation: Consequences for future self. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(2), 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12011
Slaney, R. B., Rice, K. G., Mobley, M., Trippi, J., & Ashby, J. S. (2001). The revised Almost Perfect Scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 34, 130–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2002.12069030
Solomon, L. J., & Rothblum, E. D. (1984). Academic procrastination: Frequency and cognitive-behavioral correlates. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31(4), 503–509. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.31.4.503
Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65
Stoeber, J. (2018). The psychology of perfectionism: Critical issues, open questions, and future directions. In J. Stoeber (Ed.), The psychology of perfectionism: Theory, research, applications (pp. 333–352). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315536255-4
Svartdal, F., Dahl, T. I., Gamst-Klaussen, T., Koppenborg, M., & Klingsieck, K. B. (2020). How study environments foster academic procrastination: Overview and recommendations. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1–45. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.540910
Visser, L., Schoonenboom, J., & Korthagen, F. A. (2017). A field experimental design of a strengths-based training to overcome academic procrastination: Short-and long-term effect. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01949
Visser, L., Korthagen, F. A. J., Schoonenboom, J., & Loeffler, S. N. (2018). Differences in learning characteristics between students with high, average, and low levels of academic procrastination: Students’ views on factors influencing their learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00808
Wäschle, K., Allgaier, A., Lachner, A., Fink, S., & Nückles, M. (2014). Procrastination and self-efficacy: Tracing vicious and virtuous circles in self-regulated learning. Learning and Instruction, 29, 103–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2013.09.005
Wilson, B. A., & Nguyen, T. D. (2012). Belonging to tomorrow: An overview of procrastination. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 4(1), 211–217. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijps.v4n1p211
Wohl, M. J. A., Pychyl, T. A., & Bennett, S. H. (2010). I forgive myself, now I can study: How self-forgiveness for procrastinating can reduce future procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 48(7), 803–808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.01.029
Wypych, M., Matuszewski, J., Dragan, W. Ł, & Rohrer, J. M. (2018). Roles of impulsivity, motivation, and emotion regulation in procrastination—Path analysis and comparison between students and non-students. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00891
Xatzidimou, S. B. (1994). Procrastination in elementary and university students’ homeworks. Unpublished manuscript. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens.
Xie, Y., Yang, J., & Chen, F. (2018). Procrastination and multidimensional perfectionism: A meta-analysis of main, mediating, and moderating effects. Social Behavior and Personality, 46(3), 395–408. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.6680
Zacks, S., & Hen, M. (2018). Academic interventions for academic procrastination: A review of the Academic interventions for academic procrastination. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 46(2), 117–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/10852352.2016.1198154
Zakeri, H., Nikkar, B., & Razmjoee, M. (2013). Parenting styles and academic procrastination. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 84, 57–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.509
Zarrin, S. A., Gracia, E., & Paixão, M. P. (2020). Prediction of academic procrastination by fear of failure and self-regulation. Educational Sciences Theory & Practice, 20, 34–43. https://doi.org/10.12738/jestp.2020.3.003
Zhang, S., Liu, P., & Feng, T. (2019). To do it now or later: The cognitive mechanisms and neural substrates underlying procrastination. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 10(4), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1492
Ziegler, N., & Opdenakker, M. C. (2018). The development of academic procrastination in first-year secondary education students: The link with metacognitive self-regulation, self-efficacy, and effort regulation. Learning and Individual Differences, 64, 71–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2018.04.009
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Consent for publication
We give our consent for this manuscript to be published including all authorship information provided.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Iwanna Sepiadou. Department of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. E-mail:iwanna.sepiadou@gmail.com
Panayiota Metallidou, School of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Current themes of research:
Predictors of academic procrastination.
Most relevant publication:
No previous publications.
Iwanna Sepiadou. Department of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. E-mail:iwanna.sepiadou@gmail.com
Panayiota Metallidou, School of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Current themes of research:
Predictors of academic procrastination.
Most relevant publication:
No previous publications.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Sepiadou, I., Metallidou, P. Academic hardiness as a moderator of the relation between perfectionism and academic procrastination in university students. Eur J Psychol Educ 38, 1053–1071 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-022-00648-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-022-00648-3