Relations Between Student Procrastination and Teaching Styles: Autonomy-Supportive and Controlling

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Procrastination is a complex behavior, often influenced by contextual factors beyond individual motivation or skill.
• Self-Determination Theory posits that teaching styles impact student motivation and psychological needs satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between teaching behaviors (controlling vs. autonomy-supportive) and psychological needs satisfaction.
• To examine how these factors relate to various forms of academic procrastination in undergraduate students.

Main Methods:

• Survey data collected from 672 public university undergraduate students.
• Assessed controlling and autonomy-supportive teaching behaviors.
• Measured psychological needs satisfaction (competence, autonomy, relatedness) and four procrastination types.

Main Results:

• Controlling teaching behaviors were negatively associated with psychological needs satisfaction and positively associated with procrastination.
• Autonomy-supportive teaching behaviors were positively associated with psychological needs satisfaction and negatively associated with procrastination.

Conclusions:

• Contextual factors, specifically teaching behaviors, significantly influence student procrastination.
• Findings support Self-Determination Theory and suggest pedagogical strategies to reduce academic procrastination by fostering autonomy-supportive environments.