Procrastination, perfectionism, and locus-of-control in academic settings

Abstract

The present study examines the relationships between procrastination, perfectionism, and locus-of-control (LOC) in an academic setting. Empirical data are drawn from self-report questionnaires completed by 95 randomly sampled students in institutions of higher education in Israel. We differentiate between subjects displaying adaptive and non-adaptive perfectionism and those who are not perfectionists. Similarly, we differentiate between internal and external LOC. The impact of each variable on procrastination is assessed independently, as is the combined effect of perfectionism and LOC. Findings partially uphold the study hypotheses. A significant positive correlation is found between adaptive perfectionism and internal LOC. The degree of procrastination exhibited by non-adaptive perfectionists is higher than that of non-perfectionists. Subjects displaying adaptive perfectionism and internal LOC have lower degrees of academic procrastination than those with non-adaptive perfectionism and external LOC. Findings are discussed in the context of the complexity of the variables and research limitations.