Abstract
Procrastination can theoretically be conceived of as a motivational self-regulatory failure and is assumed to be a risk factor of college dropout in the higher education context. It was hypothesized that students’ procrastination and college dropout intentions are closely related with their motivational regulation—in terms of the effectiveness of their efforts to self-regulate their motivation and in terms of the strategic knowledge behind the actual regulation attempts (conditional knowledge about the suitability of different motivational regulation strategies in different motivational problem situations). Data from 515 college students, who participated in an online study and stem from a variety of fields of study (58% female; average age of 23.2 years), was analyzed to test the hypothesized relationships. Structural equation modeling indicated that conditional motivational regulation strategy knowledge was positively linked to the effectiveness of motivational regulation, which in turn was negatively linked to academic procrastination and college dropout intentions. Subsequently, academic procrastination was positively related with college dropout intentions. A total negative indirect effect of conditional strategy knowledge on college dropout intentions was mediated by effectiveness of regulation and academic procrastination. The results are in line with the assumption that good competences to regulate one’s own motivation are an important protection factor against academic procrastination and college dropout.
Zusammenfassung
Prokrastination kann theoretisch als eine misslingende Selbstregulation im motivationalen Sinne aufgefasst und als Risikofaktor für Studienabbruch angesehen werden. Es wurde die Hypothese formuliert, dass Prokrastination im akademischen Kontext und Intentionen zum Studienabbruch eng im Zusammenhang mit Prozessen der Motivationsregulation stehen — im Sinne der Effektivität der Regulationsbemühungen als auch im Sinne des zugrundeliegenden Strategiewissens (konditionales Wissen hinsichtlich der Passung von unterschiedlichen Motivationsregulationsstrategien für verschiedene motivationale Problemsituationen). Analysiert wurde eine Stichprobe von 515 Studierenden (58 % weiblich, Durchschnittsalter 23,2 Jahre), die an einer Online-Studie teilnahmen. Die Schätzung eines Strukturgleichungsmodells erbrachte, dass konditionales Motivationsregulationsstrategiewissen in positiver Weise mit der Effektivität der Motivationsregulation zusammenhing, die wiederum negativ mit akademischer Prokrastination und intendiertem Studienabbruch korrelierte. Ein negativer indirekter Effekt des konditionalen Strategiewissens auf Intentionen zum Studienabbruch wurde durch die Effektivität der Motivationsregulation und akademische Prokrastination mediiert. Die Ergebnisse stehen im Einklang mit der Annahme, dass gute Kompetenzen zur Selbstregulation der Motivation ein wichtiger Schutzfaktor gegenüber akademischer Prokrastination und Studienabbruch sind.
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Notes
Participation in the second measurement occasion was widely independent of students’ responses in the first measurement occasion, which was scheduled four months earlier at the end of summer term 2017. Only the semester in which the students were enrolled in their courses of study correlated slightly negative (r = −0.10; p < 0.001) with participating in the second measurement occasion—indicating that students in later semesters were somewhat less likely to participate (probably because some of them graduated meanwhile). Other variables assessed at the first measurement occasion—especially, students’ prior and actual performances, several aspects of their achievement motivation, their personality in terms of the big five factors and also their dropout intentions at the time—were not related to students’ participation in the second measurement occasion. Consequently, it seems well justified to assume that the results are not biased by sample dropout from the first to the second measurement occasion.
Nonetheless, the correlation of ρ = −0.64, which corresponds to 41% shared variance between the two constructs, was small enough to justify separate constructs. This was also supported by an additional confirmatory factor analysis, which revealed a significantly better fit to the data for a two-factor solution in which the items of the two constructs loaded on separate factors than for a one-factor solution with all items loading on one common factor (∆χ2 = 252.4; ∆df = 1; p < 0.001).
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This research was supported by grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research awarded to Markus Dresel under Grant number 01PX16011B.
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Bäulke, L., Eckerlein, N. & Dresel, M. Interrelations between motivational regulation, procrastination and college dropout intentions. Unterrichtswiss 46, 461–479 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42010-018-0029-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42010-018-0029-5