When night owls confront work deadlines: a dual‑system perspective on how and when chronotype relates to procrastination

This study examines the association between chronotype and procrastination. Drawing on the hot-cool distinction between the emotional and cognitive systems of self-control, we propose that negative mood and future temporal perspective mediate this association as hot- and cool-system pathways, respectively, with dispositional mindfulness moderating these indirect effects.

Study 1 (N = 254) employed a three-wave longitudinal design with a random intercept cross-lagged panel model to examine the bidirectional relationship between chronotype and procrastination. Study 2 (N = 230) examined the mediating mechanisms and boundary condition of this association.

In Study 1, a later chronotype significantly predicted subsequent procrastination, whereas the reverse cross-lagged paths were not significant. Study 2 indicated that negative mood and future temporal perspective mediated the positive association between later chronotype and procrastination and that dispositional mindfulness significantly attenuated the mediating effect of negative mood but did not moderate the mediation via future temporal perspective.

These findings offer longitudinal evidence linking chronotype to procrastination. Individuals with a later chronotype appear more prone to procrastination, possibly owing to elevated negative mood and a diminished future temporal perspective. Notably, dispositional mindfulness appears to mitigate the indirect relationship between later chronotype and procrastination via negative mood.