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Exploring reasons and consequences of academic procrastination: an interview study

European Journal of Psychology of Education volume 28, pages 841–861 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

In the present study, we broadly investigated reasons and consequences of academic procrastination. Additionally, we explored whether students seeking help from student counselling services to overcome academic procrastination (counselling group) report more serious reasons and consequences of academic procrastination than students who procrastinate but seek no counselling support (non-counselling group). We conducted standardized interviews with university students (N = 36, of which 16 belonged to the counselling group) and analysed these using qualitative content analysis and frequency analysis. The reasons and consequences of academic procrastination, each summarized in a separate category system, were manifold. The category systems consisted of 20 main categories in total, subsuming 81 subcategories, of which 32 were inductively developed. The counselling group reported more serious reasons and consequences of academic procrastination than the non-counselling group. Our results suggest considering academic procrastination as a self-regulation failure and contribute to constructing interventions tailored to students’ specific needs.

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Notes

  1. The interview schedule is available from the first author of the study.

  2. The coding scheme is available from the first author of the study.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grant 01PH08005A from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung). We would like to thank Cüneyt Sandal, Julia Brinkmann, Anne Fleck, Nina König, Melanie Kröger, Hanna Platzeck and Dana Renger for carrying out the interviews and their assistance in analysing the interviews. We also thank Katrin Klingsieck for her insightful and helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Bielefeld, PO Box 10 01 31, 33501, Bielefeld, Germany

    Carola Grunschel, Justine Patrzek & Stefan Fries

Authors
  1. Carola Grunschel
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  2. Justine Patrzek
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  3. Stefan Fries
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carola Grunschel.

Additional information

Carola Grunschel. University of Bielefeld, Department of Psychology, PO Box 10 01 31, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany. E-mail: carola.grunschel@uni-bielefeld.de. Web Site of Institution: http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/psychologie/ae/AE09/

Current themes of research:

Academic procrastination. Transtheoretical Model of change. Fostering self-regulated learning in university students.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Patrzek, J., Grunschel, C., & Fries, S. (2012). Academic procrastination: the perspective of university counsellors. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling. Advance online publication. doi:10.1007/s10447-012-9150-z.

Justine Patrzek. University of Bielefeld, Department of Psychology, PO Box 10 01 31, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany. E-mail: justine.patrzek@uni-bielefeld.de. Web Site of Institution: http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/studberat/

Current themes of research:

Academic procrastination. Subjective theories of student counsellors.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Patrzek, J., Grunschel, C., & Fries, S. (2012). Academic procrastination: the perspective of university counsellors. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling. Advance online publication. doi:10.1007/s10447-012-9150-z.

Stefan Fries. University of Bielefeld, Department of Psychology, PO Box 10 01 31, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany. E-mail: stefan.fries@uni-bielefeld.de. Web Site of Institution: http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/psychologie/ae/AE12/index.html

Current themes of research:

Academic procrastination. Motivational foundations of learning and scientific reasoning. Motivational interference. Value orientation and motivation to learn.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Fries, S., & Dietz, F. (2007). Learning in the face of temptation: the case of motivational interference. Journal of Experimental Education. doi:10.3200/JEXE.76.1.93-112.

Fries, S., Dietz, F., & Schmid, S. (2008). Motivational interference in learning: the impact of leisure alternatives on subsequent self-regulation. Contemporary Educational Psychology. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2007.10.001.

Fries, S., Horz, H., & Haimerl, C. (2006). Pygmalion in media-based learning: effects of quality expectancies on learning outcome. Learning and Instruction. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2006.07.005.

Fries, S., Schmid, S., Dietz, F., & Hofer, F. (2005). Conflicting values and their impact on learning. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 20(3), 259–274.

Fries, S., Schmid, S., & Hofer, M. (2007). On the relationship between value orientation, valences, and academic achievement. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 22(2), 201–216.

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Grunschel, C., Patrzek, J. & Fries, S. Exploring reasons and consequences of academic procrastination: an interview study. Eur J Psychol Educ 28, 841–861 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-012-0143-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-012-0143-4

Keywords

  • Academic procrastination
  • Student counselling services
  • Interviews
  • Qualitative content analysis