TRAIT AND SITUATIONAL FACTORS IN PROCRASTINATION - AN INTERACTIONAL-MODEL

The present study examined the impact of evaluation expectation and fr ame of reference on procrastination. Fifty-eight female university und ergraduates completed an academic procrastination scale and were rando mly assigned to one of the conditions of a 2 (anticipated vs. not anti cipated evaluation) x 2 (interest vs. performance-based frame of refer ence)factorial design. Participants were required to complete a series of computer-administered tasks that varied in difficulty and interest level. Procrastination was operationalized behaviorally in terms of ( a) time to begin the most aversive task tie., boring and difficult), a nd (b) total time to complete the four required tasks. Results reveale d that participants who anticipated evaluation delayed working on the aversive task significantly longer than those who did not anticipate e valuation. Furthermore, a significant interaction effect showed that h igh-trait procrastinators were especially likely to be affected by the anticipation of evaluation A similar pattern of results was obtained for total time to complete all tasks. In this case it was when expecte d evaluation focused on performance that individuals took longer parti cularly high-trait procrastinators). The study points to the value of considering both trait and situational factors in understanding procra stination.