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Effect of evaluation threat on procrastination behavior
1Department of Psychology, University of La Verne, CA 91750, USA. buin@ulv.edu
The Journal of Social Psychology
|August 21, 2007
Summary
Understanding evaluation apprehension and procrastination is key. Increasing evaluation threat can reduce essay completion delays for students, especially high procrastinators.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Procrastination is a common behavior among students, potentially impacting academic performance.
- Evaluation apprehension, the fear of being judged, may influence task completion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interactive effects of evaluation apprehension and trait procrastination on behavioral delays in completing academic tasks.
- To determine if manipulating evaluation threat can mitigate procrastination behaviors.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 72 private university students in southern California.
- Independent variables included manipulated evaluation threat and nonmanipulated trait procrastination.
- The dependent variable was the number of days to complete an assigned essay.
Main Results:
- A significant interaction was found between evaluation threat and trait procrastination.
- High trait procrastinators in high evaluation threat conditions significantly delayed essay submission.
- In low evaluation threat conditions, low trait procrastinators showed greater delays than high trait procrastinators.
Conclusions:
- Educators can strategically use evaluation threat to manage student delays.
- The effectiveness of increasing evaluation threat depends on individual students' trait procrastination levels.
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