The relationship between causes of procrastination and sociodemographic factors

Abstract

Abstract Background In recent decades there has been keen research interest in the concept of procrastination and its impact on the student population with few studies being conducted in the Greek student population. The present study aimed to contribute to our knowledge regarding the causes that bring about academic procrastination and to further explore participants’ characteristics regarding these causes. Methods A cross-sectional study conducted in Greece with 628 college students at the University of Ioannina. Specially designed instruments were used to record students’ sociodemographic characteristics and causes of procrastination (CP). Factor Analysis (FA) with principal components (PCA) was used to derive the main students’ causes of procrastination, though Analysis of Covariance was used to examine the effect of their characteristics on these causes. Results 5 main causes of procrastination were identified explaining 48% of the total variation. Students’ lack of duty/ low tolerance for frustration was significantly associated with their gender (p = 0.005), year of study (p = 0.048) and grades (p = 0.008), while their dependency/difficulty of claim was significantly affected by students’ gender (p = 0.042), way of living (p = 0.034), place of residence (p = 0.001) and their age (p = 0.006). Moreover, their place of residence was significantly associated with their fear of failure (p = 0.001) and their difficulties in time management and decision making (p = 0.049), with those not living in the place of origin presenting greater values in relation to the aforementioned factors. Conclusions Procrastination is a widespread phenomenon in academic settings that affects differently each gender and is also affected by the sociodemographic factors. This study demonstrates the importance of investigating the causes of procrastination as a concept that helps us understand students’ behaviour and patterns associated with it. Key messages There is a great need for further studies on the causes of procrastination in order to help Universities to design learning environments that will be helpful for their students. The college instructors should train students not to procrastinate via preventing interventions.