Validation of the Spanish version of the Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS).

Georgina Guilera,Maite Barrios,Eva Penelo,Juana Gómez-Benito,Piers Steel,Christopher Morin,Soraya Seedat

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0190806

Georgina Guilera, Maite Barrios + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190806

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Abstract

The present study is centered in adapting and validating a Spanish version of the Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS). The sample consists of 365 adults aged 18–77 years (M = 37.70, SD = 12.64). Participants were administered two measures of procrastination, the IPS and the Decisional Procrastination Questionnaire, as well as the Big Five Inventory, and the Satisfaction With Life Scale. First, the factor and replication analysis revealed that the internal structure of the scale is clearly one-dimensional, supporting the idea that IPS seems to measure general procrastination as a single trait. Second, the internal consistency is satisfactory as is the temporal stability of the IPS scores. Third, the correlations encountered between the IPS scores and other measures of procrastination, personality traits and satisfaction with life are all in the expected direction and magnitude. Finally, consistent with previous research, procrastination is related to age, with the youngest being the most procrastinating group. This study represents the first attempt in adapting and validating the IPS measure of procrastination into Spanish. Results suggest that the Spanish version of the IPS offers valid and reliable scores when applied to adult population.

Highlights

Procrastination is defined as ‘‘to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay” ([1], p. 66)
Epidemiological studies establish that selfreported procrastination is present in at least 20% of the general adult population [2], and that chronic procrastination is common among English-speaking countries (i.e., Australia, United Kingdom, and United States) and Spanish-speaking countries (i.e., Peru, Spain, and Venezuela) where around 14% of adults self-identified as procrastinators [3]
In order to confirm the results reported by Beutel and colleagues [29] in terms of differences in procrastination between participants grouped by sex and age, the variable age was categorized in two groups (i.e., 18–29 [the only group that showed differences with all the other age groups in Beutel’s study], and 30–77)

Summary

Introduction

Procrastination is defined as ‘‘to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay” ([1], p. 66). Epidemiological studies establish that selfreported procrastination is present in at least 20% of the general adult population [2], and that chronic procrastination is common among English-speaking countries (i.e., Australia, United Kingdom, and United States) and Spanish-speaking countries (i.e., Peru, Spain, and Venezuela) where around 14% of adults self-identified as procrastinators [3]. In a Turkish sample, prevalence analysis revealed 15% of the adult population to be chronic procrastinators [4]. These studies used self-reported measures of procrastination, leaving out of their scope to what extent chronic procrastinators present a clinical condition that warrants intervention.

Results

Discussion

Conclusion