A Review on the Relationship Between Academic Procrastination, Self-regulation, and Appropriate Remedial Strategies

Abstract

Drawing much attention in recent years, academic procrastination and self-regulation are well-known concepts across the field of psychology. Researchers have spent decades on related topics, unravelling their nature and their interaction with each other. Nonetheless, the relationship between self-regulation and academic procrastination specifically was somewhat lacking. In this study, conclusions of various previous papers were collected, from both theoretical and experimental investigations. In hopes of finding a more up-to-date inference, this study contributed on two aspects. First, it landed the following conclusions: students who are better at self-regulating experience less serious academic procrastination; and that academic procrastination could be eased by developing self-regulation abilities. Second, multiple moderating methods for academic procrastination were suggested, including learning strategies, different perspectives of self-regulation, and the mechanism of active procrastination. The paper also suggested gaps in current field, as well as their respective advice for future research. The implication of the study was emphasised by the potential that self-regulation has on relieving academic procrastination effects. With further exploration, findings in the field will no doubt benefit students across the globe.