Procrastination of university students in the context of academic motivation and self-control

Abstract

Objectives. Procrastination is a phenomenon, that causes negative consequences in terms of achieving study and work goals, especially for teachers and students of teacher courses. The aim of the research was to examine the contribution of self-control and academic motivation to procrastination and to examine the differences in procrastination with respect to socio-demographic factors.Sample and setting. 333 university students from teachers’ courses of the Presov University (68.5% of women; Mage=20.51, SD=1.61) participated in the research. The respondents completed questionnaires that measured procrastination, socio-demographic variables (gender, age, year of study, living during the semester), self-control, and academic motivation (intrinsic motivation to know, intrinsic motivation toward accomplishment, intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, amotivation).Statistical analysis. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics, t-tests, and linear regression.Results. The results show no age and gender differences in procrastination. The linear model explained 45,8% of the variation in procrastination. Four variables were significant: self-control, introjected regulation, gender, and living in a sublet. The results confirm an association between self-regulatory mechanisms, motivation, and autonomy of university students. The results also have shown the importance of these variables within the reduction of procrastination among future teachers.Study limitation. Unbalanced sample distribution in terms of study years; cross-sectional and self-reported data.