The Nature of Procrastination拖延症

TheNatureofProcrastination:AMeta-AnalyticandTheoreticalReviewofQuintessentialSelf-RegulatoryFailurePiersSteelUniversityofCalgaryProcrastinationisaprevalentandperniciousformofself-regulatoryfailurethatisnotentirelyunderstood.Hence,therelevantconceptual,theoretical,andempiricalworkisreviewed,drawinguponcorrelational,experimental,andqualitativefindings.Ameta-analysisofprocrastination’spossiblecausesandeffects,basedon691correlations,revealsthatneuroticism,rebelliousness,andsensationseekingshowonlyaweakconnection.Strongandconsistentpredictorsofprocrastinationweretaskaversiveness,taskdelay,self-efficacy,andimpulsiveness,aswellasconscientiousnessanditsfacetsofself-control,distractibility,orga-nization,andachievementmotivation.Theseeffectsproveconsistentwithtemporalmotivationtheory,anintegrativehybridofexpectancytheoryandhyperbolicdiscounting.Continuedresearchintoprocrastinationshouldnotbedelayed,especiallybecauseitsprevalenceappearstobegrowing.Keywords:procrastination,irrationaldelay,pathologicaldecisionmaking,meta-analysisProcrastinationisextremelyprevalent.Althoughvirtuallyallofushaveatleastdalliedwithdallying,somehavemadeitawayoflife.Estimatesindicatethat80%–95%ofcollegestudentsengageinpro-crastination(Ellis&Knaus,1977;O’Brien,2002),approximately75%considerthemselvesprocrastinators(Potts,1987),andalmost50%procrastinateconsistentlyandproblematically(Day,Mensink,&O’Sullivan,2000;Haycock,1993;Micek,1982;Onwuegbuzie,2000a;Solomon&Rothblum,1984).Theabsoluteamountofpro-crastinationisconsiderable,withstudentsreportingthatittypicallyoccupiesoveronethirdoftheirdailyactivities,oftenenactedthroughsleeping,playing,orTVwatching(Pychyl,Lee,Thibodeau,&Blunt,2000).Furthermore,thesepercentagesappeartobeontherise(Kach-gal,Hansen,&Nutter,2001).Inadditiontobeingendemicduringcollege,procrastinationisalsowidespreadinthegeneralpopulation,chronicallyaffectingsome15%–20%ofadults(J.Harriott&Ferrari,1996;“Haven’tFiledYet,”2003).Procrastinationalsoappearstobeatroublingphenomenon.Peoplemoststronglycharacterizeitasbeingbad,harmful,andfoolish(Briody,1980),andover95%ofprocrastinatorswishtoreduceit(O’Brien,2002).Justifyingthisviewpoint,severalstudieshavelinkedprocrastinationtoindividualperformance,withtheprocrastinatorperformingmorepoorlyoverall(Beswick,Roth-blum,&Mann,1988;Steel,Brothen,&Wambach,2001;Wesley,1994),andtoindividualwell-being,withtheprocrastinatorbeingmoremiserableinthelongterm(Knaus,1973;Lay&Schouwen-burg,1993;Tice&Baumeister,1997).Forexample,asurveybyH&RBlockindicatedthatprocrastinatingontaxescostspeopleonaverage$400becauseofrushingandconsequenterrors,resultinginover$473millioninoverpaymentsin2002(Kasper,2004).Similarly,themedicalfieldreportedthatprocrastinationonthepartofpatientsisamajorproblem(e.g.,Morris,Menashe,Ander-son,Malinow,&Illingworth,1990;White,Wearing,&Hill,1994);thisisalsoreflectedinthemeta-analyticworkofBoggandRoberts(2004).Avarietyofotherfieldsrepeatthistheme,thatprocrastinationisdangerous.Ineconomics,Akerlof(1991)andO’DonoghueandRabin(1999)consideredtherelativelackofretirementsavingsbehaviorasaformofprocrastination,inwhichmanystartprepar-ingfortheirlateryearsfartoolate.Inthepoliticalarena,procras-tinationhasbeenusedtodescribebothpresidentialdecisions(Farnham,1997;Kegley,1989)andthebankingpracticesofnations(Holland,2001),inwhichimportantdecisionsaredisas-trouslydelayed.Atlargerlevelsofanalysis,Gersick(1989)de-scribedhowteamsconsistentlydelaythebulkoftheirworkuntildeadlinesapproach.Unfortunatelyforsuchanextensiveandpotentiallyharmfulphenomenon,muchhasyettobelearnedaboutthecausesofprocrastination,althoughtherehavebeensomenotablereviews.Ferrari,Johnson,andMcCown’s(1995)bookonthetopicisextensivebutfocusedprimarilyonmeasurementandtheory,withlessemphasisonempiricalfindings.Ontheotherhand,VanEerde(2003)didconductameta-analysisonprocrastina-tion;althoughstatisticallysolid,itwasalsolimitedinscope.Basedon88articles,itdidnotincorporateenvironmentalvariables(e.g.,taskeffects)ornoncorrelationalfindings(e.g.,experimentalorsurveyresults),didnotconsiderseveralper-sonalityfacets(e.g.,extraversionorimpulsiveness)ortheoret-icalfoundations,anddidnotincludeamoderatorsearchoraccountforattenuationeffects.Finally,abookbySchouwen-burg,Lay,Pychyl,andFerrari(2004)reviewedthetopicbutfocusedprimarilyontechnicalexpositionsofprocrastinationtreatmentprogramsforacademiccounselors.Consequently,thereisaneedforacomprehensiveanddetailedexaminationoftheresearchonprocrastination.Withsuchareview,IwouldliketosincerelythankHenriSchouwenburgforhisenthusiasminthisendeavoraswellashiswillingnesstoshareandtranslatehisconsiderableresearchonprocrastination.CorrespondenceconcerningthisarticleshouldbeaddressedtoPiersSteel,444ScurfieldHall,2500UniversityDriveNorthwest,HumanRe-sourcesandOrganizationalDynamics,UniversityofCalgary,Calgary,Alberta,CanadaT2N1N4.E-mail:[e-mail]opyright2007bytheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation2007,Vol.133,No.1,65–940033-2909/07/$12.00DOI:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.6565researcherscanbetterelucid