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An Exploratory Study on Personality Traits and Procrastination Among University Students

Received: 9 March 2015    Accepted: 9 March 2015    Published: 20 March 2015
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Abstract

The present research examines the association between personality traits and procrastination behavior among 148 university students (52 males, 96 females). Respondents completed two measurements - Leonard Personality Inventory and General Procrastination Scale. Descriptive analysis indicated that Diploma Year 2 students scored the highest (Mean = 58.47), while Degree Year 1 students scored the lowest (Mean = 54.75) in the level of procrastination. Personality traits profiling consistently indicated that the most dominant personality trait of Diploma Year 2, Degree Year 1, 2 and 3 students is Neutral trait (Mean = 78.05, 80.75, 78.84 & 76.82); while the least dominant trait is Decisiveness (Mean = 67.48, 68.25, 69.89 & 68.33). The most dominant personality traits among male university students are Openness (Mean = 75.77), Decisiveness (Mean = 68.69) and Neutral (Mean = 78.48), while female university students are Analytical (Mean = 73.36) and Relational (Mean = 72.42). Meanwhile, male students scored slightly higher in procrastination (Mean = 58.25) as compared to females (Mean = 57.09). However, independent sample t-test indicated no significant gender differences in respondents’ level of academic procrastination [t (146) = .702, p > .05]. Finally, correlational analyses reported no significant associations between the five personality traits with procrastination behavior among university students. Future studies should explore on whether cultural differences may influence personality traits and the level of academic procrastination of university students.

Published in American Journal of Applied Psychology (Volume 4, Issue 3-1)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychology of University Students

DOI 10.11648/j.ajap.s.2015040301.14
Page(s) 21-26
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Personality, Traits, Procrastination

References
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[2] Yong, F.L. (2010). A study on the assertiveness and academic procrastination of English and Communication students at a private university. American Journal of Scientific Research, Issue 9, pp. 62-71.
[3] Sharma, M., & Kaur, G. (2011). Gender differences in Procrastination and Academic Stress among adolescents. Indian Journal of Social Science Researches Vol. 8 No. 1-2, pp. 122-127.
[4] Sirin, E. F. (2011). Academic procrastination among undergraduates attending school of physical education and sports: Role of general procrastination, academic motivation and academic self-efficacy. Educational Research and Review, 6(5), 447-455.
[5] Ozer, B. U., Demir, A., & Ferrari, J. R. (2009). Exploring academic procrastination among Turkish students: Possible gender differences in prevalence and reasons. Journal of Social Psychology, 149(2), 241-257.
[6] Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quint es sential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65-94.
[7] Ruhsan Burcu Islak (2011). Academic procrastination in relation to gender among gifted and talented university students. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Houston, USA.
[8] Özer, B. U., & Ferrari, J. R. (2011). Gender orientation and academic procrastination: Exploring Turkish high school students. Individual Differences Research, 9(1), 33-40.
[9] Wiley, J., & Sons. (2000) Role conflict and academic procrastination: A self-determination perspective. European Journal of Social Psychology, 33(1), 135-145.
[10] Milgram, N., & Tenne, R. (2000). Personality correlates of decisional and task avoidant procrastination. European Journal of Personality, 14 (1) 141-156.
[11] Hussain, I., & Sultan, S. (2010). Analysis of procrastination among university students. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 1897-1904.
[12] Steel, P., Brothen, T., &Wambach, C. (2001. Procrastination and personality, performance, and mood. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 95-106.
[13] Johnson, J.L., & Bloom, A.M. (1995). An analysis of the contribution of the five factors of personality to variance in academic procrastination. Personality Individual Differences, 18(1), 127-133.
[14] Watson, D.C. (2001). Procrastination and the five-factor model: a facet level analysis. Personality and Individual Differences.30, 149-158.
[15] Rice, K.G., Richardson, C.M.E., & Clark, D. (2012). Perfectionism, Procrastination, and Psychological Distress. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59(2), 288-302.
[16] Gallagher, D. J. (1996) Personality, Coping, and Objective Outcomes: Extraversion, Neuroticism, Coping Styles, and Academic Performance. Personality Individual Differences, 21(3), 421-429
[17] Vallerand, R.J. (1995).Self-Regulation and Academic Procrastination. The Journal of Social Psychology, 135(5), 607-619.
[18] Yong. M.S. (1999). Norms & Technical Manual: The Leonard Personality Inventory (LPI). Leonard Personality Incorporated Sdn Bhd, Malaysia.
[19] Goldberg, L. R. (1992). The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 4(1), 26-42.
[20] Lay, C. H. (1986). At last, my research article on procrastination. Journal of Research in Personality, 20(4), 474-495.
[21] Fleet, G.L., Blankstein, K.K., Hewitt, P.L., Koledin, S.P. (1992). Components of perfectionism and personalities in university students. Social Behavior & Personality, 20(2), 85-94.
[22] Fleet, G.L., Stainton, M., Hewitt, P.L., Sherry, S.B., & Lay, C. (2012). Procrastination automatic thoughts as a personality construct: an analysis of the procrastinatory cognitions inventory. Springer Science.
[23] Milgram, N. A., Sroloff, B., & Rosenbaum, M. (1988). The procrastination of everyday life. Journal of Research in Personality, 22, 197-212.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Chooi Seong Lai, Abdul Rahman bin Ahmad Badayai, Khartikka Chandrasekaran, Siew Yen Lee, Rubini Kulasingam. (2015). An Exploratory Study on Personality Traits and Procrastination Among University Students. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 4(3-1), 21-26. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.s.2015040301.14

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    ACS Style

    Chooi Seong Lai; Abdul Rahman bin Ahmad Badayai; Khartikka Chandrasekaran; Siew Yen Lee; Rubini Kulasingam. An Exploratory Study on Personality Traits and Procrastination Among University Students. Am. J. Appl. Psychol. 2015, 4(3-1), 21-26. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.s.2015040301.14

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    AMA Style

    Chooi Seong Lai, Abdul Rahman bin Ahmad Badayai, Khartikka Chandrasekaran, Siew Yen Lee, Rubini Kulasingam. An Exploratory Study on Personality Traits and Procrastination Among University Students. Am J Appl Psychol. 2015;4(3-1):21-26. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.s.2015040301.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajap.s.2015040301.14,
      author = {Chooi Seong Lai and Abdul Rahman bin Ahmad Badayai and Khartikka Chandrasekaran and Siew Yen Lee and Rubini Kulasingam},
      title = {An Exploratory Study on Personality Traits and Procrastination Among University Students},
      journal = {American Journal of Applied Psychology},
      volume = {4},
      number = {3-1},
      pages = {21-26},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajap.s.2015040301.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.s.2015040301.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajap.s.2015040301.14},
      abstract = {The present research examines the association between personality traits and procrastination behavior among 148 university students (52 males, 96 females). Respondents completed two measurements - Leonard Personality Inventory and General Procrastination Scale. Descriptive analysis indicated that Diploma Year 2 students scored the highest (Mean = 58.47), while Degree Year 1 students scored the lowest (Mean = 54.75) in the level of procrastination. Personality traits profiling consistently indicated that the most dominant personality trait of Diploma Year 2, Degree Year 1, 2 and 3 students is Neutral trait (Mean = 78.05, 80.75, 78.84 & 76.82); while the least dominant trait is Decisiveness (Mean = 67.48, 68.25, 69.89 & 68.33). The most dominant personality traits among male university students are Openness (Mean = 75.77), Decisiveness (Mean = 68.69) and Neutral (Mean = 78.48), while female university students are Analytical (Mean = 73.36) and Relational (Mean = 72.42). Meanwhile, male students scored slightly higher in procrastination (Mean = 58.25) as compared to females (Mean = 57.09). However, independent sample t-test indicated no significant gender differences in respondents’ level of academic procrastination [t (146) = .702, p > .05]. Finally, correlational analyses reported no significant associations between the five personality traits with procrastination behavior among university students. Future studies should explore on whether cultural differences may influence personality traits and the level of academic procrastination of university students.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - An Exploratory Study on Personality Traits and Procrastination Among University Students
    AU  - Chooi Seong Lai
    AU  - Abdul Rahman bin Ahmad Badayai
    AU  - Khartikka Chandrasekaran
    AU  - Siew Yen Lee
    AU  - Rubini Kulasingam
    Y1  - 2015/03/20
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.s.2015040301.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajap.s.2015040301.14
    T2  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JF  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JO  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    SP  - 21
    EP  - 26
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5672
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.s.2015040301.14
    AB  - The present research examines the association between personality traits and procrastination behavior among 148 university students (52 males, 96 females). Respondents completed two measurements - Leonard Personality Inventory and General Procrastination Scale. Descriptive analysis indicated that Diploma Year 2 students scored the highest (Mean = 58.47), while Degree Year 1 students scored the lowest (Mean = 54.75) in the level of procrastination. Personality traits profiling consistently indicated that the most dominant personality trait of Diploma Year 2, Degree Year 1, 2 and 3 students is Neutral trait (Mean = 78.05, 80.75, 78.84 & 76.82); while the least dominant trait is Decisiveness (Mean = 67.48, 68.25, 69.89 & 68.33). The most dominant personality traits among male university students are Openness (Mean = 75.77), Decisiveness (Mean = 68.69) and Neutral (Mean = 78.48), while female university students are Analytical (Mean = 73.36) and Relational (Mean = 72.42). Meanwhile, male students scored slightly higher in procrastination (Mean = 58.25) as compared to females (Mean = 57.09). However, independent sample t-test indicated no significant gender differences in respondents’ level of academic procrastination [t (146) = .702, p > .05]. Finally, correlational analyses reported no significant associations between the five personality traits with procrastination behavior among university students. Future studies should explore on whether cultural differences may influence personality traits and the level of academic procrastination of university students.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 3-1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Faculty of Social Science, Arts and Humanities, Tunku Abdul Rahman University University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  • Faculty of Social Science, Arts and Humanities, Tunku Abdul Rahman University University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  • Faculty of Social Science, Arts and Humanities, Tunku Abdul Rahman University University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  • Faculty of Social Science, Arts and Humanities, Tunku Abdul Rahman University University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  • Faculty of Social Science, Arts and Humanities, Tunku Abdul Rahman University University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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