A Rasch Analysis of the Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS).

Amy Shaw,Jennifer J Zhang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.615341

Amy Shaw, Jennifer J Zhang

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.615341

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Abstract

The present study analyses the psychometric properties of the irrational procrastination scale (IPS; Steel, 2002, 2010) in a sample of United States college students using the Rasch modeling approach. Results showed that the IPS items had a high level of reliability, good content validity, structural validity, and substantive validity, and no differential item functioning (DIF) effects in terms of gender. The IPS was found to be unidimensional, supporting the originally proposed theoretical structure by Steel (2002, 2010). Finally, psychometric implications derived from the results and study limitations are discussed; recommendations for future investigations are also offered.

Highlights

Despite the existence of various procrastination scales derived from different theoretical frameworks in the literature, the meta-analysis conducted by Steel (2010) found little empirical support for the assumption about dividing procrastination into multiple distinct subtypes; instead, Steel (2010) concluded that procrastination is best conceived of as a single unitary construct – the irrational or dysfunctional delay of actions in the implemental phase despite expecting it to be disadvantageous, which is considered as the core component of procrastination (Steel, 2007)
Provided the methodological pitfalls in previous irrational procrastination scale (IPS) validation studies that relied on Classical Test Theory (CTT), in the present study we chose to resort to item response theory (IRT) using Rasch analysis in an attempt to gather complementing evidence for the psychometric properties of the IPS
Consistent with Steel’s (2010) original proposal and conclusions of the previous CTT studies (Svartdal et al, 2016; Svartdal, 2017; Kim et al, 2020), the nine items of the IPS were well fitted to the latent unidimensional structure as required in Rasch modeling which provided support for the IPS as a unidimensional measure of irrational procrastination

Summary

Introduction

Defined as the inclination “to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay” (Steel, 2007, p. 66), procrastination is predominantly viewed as an irrational/dysfunctional delay resulting from the failure of self-regulation or self-control (Steel, 2007, 2010) and often leading to lower task performance and decreased subjective well-being (Steel, 2007; Klingsieck, 2013). Despite the existence of various procrastination scales derived from different theoretical frameworks in the literature, the meta-analysis conducted by Steel (2010) found little empirical support for the assumption about dividing procrastination into multiple distinct subtypes; instead, Steel (2010) concluded that procrastination is best conceived of as a single unitary construct – the irrational or dysfunctional delay of actions in the implemental phase despite expecting it to be disadvantageous, which is considered as the core component of procrastination (Steel, 2007). Empirical evidence from past work has largely pointed to the unidimensionality of the IPS

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