runningheadprocrastination.docVIP

Running head: PROCRASTINATION The Nature of Procrastination Piers Steel University of Calgary Piers Steel, Human Resources and Organizational Development, University of Calgary. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Piers Steel, 444 Skurfield Hall, 2500 University Drive N.W., University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4, or Piers.Steel@Haskayne.UCalgary.ca, or Fax: 403-282-0095 I would like to sincerely thank Henri Schouwenburg for his enthusiasm in this endeavor as well as his willingness to share and translate his considerable research on procrastination. Abstract Procrastination is prevalent and pernicious but not entirely understood, motivating this empirical and theoretical review. Though several definitions exist, integrating them indicates procrastination is an intended action that is voluntarily delayed, despite expectations that this delay will fail to maximize one’s utility. A meta-analysis of procrastination’s causes and effects reveals several consistent findings regarding task effects, individual differences, and procrastination’s intrinsic aspects. To explain these findings, expectancy and hyperbolic discounting theory are summarized and evaluated, revealing that only a combination of these theories is consistent with procrastination’s strongest and most reliable findings. Continued research into the prediction and treatment of procrastination should not be delayed, especially since its prevalence appears to be growing. Keywords: Procrastination, picoeconomics, irrational delay, meta-analysis THE NATURE OF PROCRASTINATION Procrastination is clearly prevalent. Though virtually all of us have at least dallied with dallying, some have made it a way of life. Estimates indicate that 95% of college students engage in procrastination (Ellis Knaus, 1977), approximately 75% consider themselves procrastinators (Potts, 1987), and almost one-half do it consistently and problematically (Day, Mensink, O’S