A Lack of Focus, Not Task Avoidance, Makes the Difference: Work Routines in Procrastinators and Non-Procrastinators
Procrastination may be seen as the outcome of a learning history of delaying the onset of task execution and its completion, both in terms of time and effort. In this study, we examined the performance of 55 university students who carried out two writing tasks consisting of summarizing two academic...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/13/4/333 |
| _version_ | 1797606374852526080 |
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| author | Francesco Di Nocera Rosa De Piano Marika Rullo Giorgia Tempestini |
| author_facet | Francesco Di Nocera Rosa De Piano Marika Rullo Giorgia Tempestini |
| author_sort | Francesco Di Nocera |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Procrastination may be seen as the outcome of a learning history of delaying the onset of task execution and its completion, both in terms of time and effort. In this study, we examined the performance of 55 university students who carried out two writing tasks consisting of summarizing two academic papers, each within a different time slot (i.e., five vs. three days to complete). The two assignments were part of the class activity and were perceived by participants as homogeneous in terms of text appreciation and difficulty, therefore making the two conditions comparable. The Pure Procrastination Scale was used to categorize subjects as high and low procrastinators, and to compare their performances. Results show that students who report more procrastination behaviors tend to increase their productivity as the deadline approaches, while low procrastinators are more productive throughout the time at their disposal, with peak activity during the intermediate day. Such a strategy was consistent across two deadlines (five vs. three days), and the difference between the two subgroups can be ascribed to the task-oriented coping style, which seems to be lacking in high-procrastinators. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:14:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aed068daa90f4737a7713bc50cae4957 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:14:18Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-aed068daa90f4737a7713bc50cae49572023-11-17T18:21:16ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2023-04-0113433310.3390/bs13040333A Lack of Focus, Not Task Avoidance, Makes the Difference: Work Routines in Procrastinators and Non-ProcrastinatorsFrancesco Di Nocera0Rosa De Piano1Marika Rullo2Giorgia Tempestini3Department of Planning, Design, and Technology of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome, 00196 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Social, Political, and Cognitive Sciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, ItalyDepartment of Planning, Design, and Technology of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome, 00196 Rome, ItalyProcrastination may be seen as the outcome of a learning history of delaying the onset of task execution and its completion, both in terms of time and effort. In this study, we examined the performance of 55 university students who carried out two writing tasks consisting of summarizing two academic papers, each within a different time slot (i.e., five vs. three days to complete). The two assignments were part of the class activity and were perceived by participants as homogeneous in terms of text appreciation and difficulty, therefore making the two conditions comparable. The Pure Procrastination Scale was used to categorize subjects as high and low procrastinators, and to compare their performances. Results show that students who report more procrastination behaviors tend to increase their productivity as the deadline approaches, while low procrastinators are more productive throughout the time at their disposal, with peak activity during the intermediate day. Such a strategy was consistent across two deadlines (five vs. three days), and the difference between the two subgroups can be ascribed to the task-oriented coping style, which seems to be lacking in high-procrastinators.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/13/4/333behaviorprocrastinationstresscopingknowledge work |
| spellingShingle | Francesco Di Nocera Rosa De Piano Marika Rullo Giorgia Tempestini A Lack of Focus, Not Task Avoidance, Makes the Difference: Work Routines in Procrastinators and Non-Procrastinators Behavioral Sciences behavior procrastination stress coping knowledge work |
| title | A Lack of Focus, Not Task Avoidance, Makes the Difference: Work Routines in Procrastinators and Non-Procrastinators |
| title_full | A Lack of Focus, Not Task Avoidance, Makes the Difference: Work Routines in Procrastinators and Non-Procrastinators |
| title_fullStr | A Lack of Focus, Not Task Avoidance, Makes the Difference: Work Routines in Procrastinators and Non-Procrastinators |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Lack of Focus, Not Task Avoidance, Makes the Difference: Work Routines in Procrastinators and Non-Procrastinators |
| title_short | A Lack of Focus, Not Task Avoidance, Makes the Difference: Work Routines in Procrastinators and Non-Procrastinators |
| title_sort | lack of focus not task avoidance makes the difference work routines in procrastinators and non procrastinators |
| topic | behavior procrastination stress coping knowledge work |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/13/4/333 |
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