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The effects of decisional and academic procrastination on students’ feelings toward academic procrastination

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Abstract

Procrastination is often associated with feelings of discomfort. The current research examined the effects of decisional and academic procrastination on students’ feeling of discomfort related to academic procrastination and the desire to change their procrastination habits. We assumed that academic procrastination would mediate the relationship between decisional procrastination and students’ feelings toward academic procrastination. A total of 373 undergraduate social sciences students from northern Israel participated in the study. The results challenge the traditional perception that procrastination is mostly associated with feelings of discomfort and may imply that while decisional procrastinators experience discomfort associated with procrastination, academic procrastinators want to change their procrastination habits but do not report feelings of discomfort. The findings also suggest a difference between the two types of procrastination and may contribute to the argument that for some students, procrastination serves as an immediate emotional relief, followed by negative academic outcomes that enhance the desire to change this habit.

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  1. Telhai Academic College, Qiryat Shemona, Israel

    Meirav Hen & Marina Goroshit

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  1. Meirav Hen
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  2. Marina Goroshit
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Correspondence to Meirav Hen.

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All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in pursuing this publication. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Hen, M., Goroshit, M. The effects of decisional and academic procrastination on students’ feelings toward academic procrastination. Curr Psychol 39, 556–563 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9777-3

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