The role of personality traits and need for cognition in active procrastination

Recent research has differentiated between active and passive procrastination, with the former considered to be beneficial for learning and the latter considered to be harmful. Studies have shown that both personality and cognitive factors are important in students' active procrastination. This study examines how interactions between the Big Five personality traits and the need for cognition affect students' active procrastination. The hypotheses were tested empirically using cross-sectional data collected from 307 university students in China. After controlling for age, a hierarchical regression analysis revealed that extraversion was a positive predictor of active procrastination, and that agreeableness and emotional instability were negative predictors of active procrastination. No significant interaction effects were found between personality traits and need for cognition. The implications of the findings are discussed.