Other research has yielded findings of an even stronger relationship between self-esteem and procrastination, as well as going further and linking general depression and anxiety as well as general self-esteem to procrastination levels, even correlating increased academic-task specific procrastination with lower levels of general self-esteem (Farran, 2004). Finally, a research study that involved only three independent variables -- intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and self-esteem -- and their relationship to procrastination found a very strong negative correlation between self-esteem and procrastination that suggested a high predictive value (Lekich, 2006)
Procrastination Self-Esteem and Procrastination There is a substantial amount of indirect evidence presented in the literature that suggests a strong negative correlation between self-esteem and procrastination, such that high levels of self-esteem are generally associated with lower rates of procrastination, less severe or extreme procrastination, and/or lower levels of adverse effects from procrastination (Wolters, 2003; Deniz, 2006; Steel, 2007)
¶ … Procrastination, Performance, Stress, and Health" (1997) was that procrastinating is a cause for factors that affected people's health, stress level, and overall academic performance. A group of researchers conducted a study on a group of 60 students who took a Health Psychology college course throughout the semester, and the researchers wanted to know if procrastinators were any different from non-procrastinators when it came to grades, stress, and health (Tice & Baumeister, 454)
Burka and Yuen (2008) also believe that procrastination is a problematic behavior that emerges as a response to stress or anxiety. They address the issue from the standpoint that procrastination is a behavior to which anyone and everyone is susceptible, including students, scientists, administrators, assistants, executives, doctors, teachers, parents, salesmen, and all other persons and professionals (Burka & Yuen 2008)
In this essay, the purpose is to acknowledge the different ways in which procrastination occurs in the lives of people and identify and explain the most probable cause of procrastination as a coping mechanism in human behavior that can have both positive and adverse affects. Most probable cause of procrastination Most psychologists believe that procrastination is a coping mechanism in response to anxiety that stems from the anticipation of starting or having to finish/finalize either an important task or an important decision (Fiore 2006)
Without getting too much into the psychology of human choice and behavior, it is just important to note that procrastination is no different than most other human behaviors in that it can result from conscious intention, subconscious intent, or some combination of the two. According to Schraw, Pinard, and Wadkins (2007), three conditions exist as part of a behavioral response to make that behavior labeled as procrastination, listed as follows: Counterproductive: Problematic, thwarting achievement of a purpose; tending to hinder or distract from one's higher priorities or purpose (Simpson & Weiner 1989)
People that regular sleep less than six hours per night have been shown to have a higher risk death due to cardiovascular disease. About half of the studies find a U-shaped effect, that is that less than 6 and more than 9 hours of sleep is associated with increased risk of death from cardiac disease and increased risks of other disorders (Ferrie, Shipley, Cappuccio, Brunner, Miller, Kumari, & Marmot, 2007)
Drugs that have long acting effects are better for middle or late insomnia (difficulty with waking in the night and not being able to go back to sleep) and shorter acting drugs are better for people with initial insomnia, people who have difficulty falling asleep. Many of the medications used to treat insomnia have the potential for addiction (Sadock & Sadock, 2007)
" This theory explains why humans avoid tasks, but not so much why we delay them. Fear of failure would mean never trying, not just delaying the task (Ariely and Wertenbroch)
The issue becomes serious on a sliding scale, however, when these behavior overlap or become so serious that they in fact do psychological, pyshcosocial, or other harm (fiscal, familial, etc.) to the individual (Burka)
In addition, by delaying work and starting it on one's own time schedule, a sense of autonomy and a reassertment of the individual is made. Then, if failure results, the individual can say, "It was not my fault, they made me do it this way" (Ferrari, Johnson and McCown)
In addition, by delaying work and starting it on one's own time schedule, a sense of autonomy and a reassertment of the individual is made. Then, if failure results, the individual can say, "It was not my fault, they made me do it this way" (Ferrari, Johnson and McCown)
We therefore put off unpleasant tasks until the last moment, choosing instead to fulfill our primary, social needs. Modern individuals also want immediate and direct feedback; by procrastinating tasks that are unpleasant, we also delay any unpleasantness or potential for unpleasantness into the future where, ostensibly, we will be more equipped to deal with whatever issue we are avoiding (Pychyl)
Self-sabotouers tend to think they are protecting themselves from shame and humiliation by just failiing to proform the task. This aspect has a motivational template to it as well; because all motivations are not the say, the end result of self-handicapping protects the individual on all fronts (Rosner and Hermes)
As a part of general human behavior, it is considered normal in some scenarios at some times. However, as procrastination impedes normal functioning or becomes chronic, it is likely the sign of an underlying psychological disorder (Schraw, Wadkins and Olafson)
This group feels such self-animosity that they believe they cannot even start a project because they are incapable. They will say they have grand plans, but continue to "relax" until it is impossible to even start a mediocre plan, let alone a plan that might actually be great (Steel)
Students may prefer social time rather than homework; many see tasks as too huge to tackle. This typc of procrastinator continuously avoids situations that would cause any displeasure (Tuker-Ladd)
Findings show a direct and inverse correlation between self-esteem and procrastination, with a more extreme difference noticeable amongst those with low self-esteem/high procrastination. The relationship between levels of self-esteem and the degree and/or frequency to which a given individual is prone to procrastination has been the subject of a great deal of research and scholarship over the past several decades (Beck et al
Though this does lead to some potential for bias and inaccuracy due to the self-reported nature of the data collected via these instruments -- a persistent problem in the research as there is no effective means of measuring procrastination behaviors in a natural setting over the long-term, and no means at all of measuring self-esteem without some level of self-reporting/self-analysis on the part of the subjects -- these well-validated instruments will correct for this potential to a large degree. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem survey and scale was used to measure participants' self-esteem levels; this instrument continues to be validated for use with populations of wide ages and backgrounds and is of sound construct both in its theoretical underpinnings and in the practicalities of its delivery to and completion by participants (Beshlideh et al
The claim that self-esteem is inversely correlated with procrastination, such that those with high self-esteem procrastinate less) derived from a broad and diverse population. Whereas many previous studies have only included participants from a specific subgroup of the total population -- students or working adults, for instance -- this research study and the randomly distributed surveys covered a much wider demographic base (Deniz, 2011; Beshlideh et al