Perfectionism, academic engagement, and procrastination among undergraduates: The moderating role of honors student status

The role of big five traits and self-esteem on academic procrastination in Honduran and Spanish university students: A cross-cultural study

Academic procrastination, a prevalent issue in higher education, has been associated with various adverse outcomes. This study aims to discern and compare the degrees of academic procrastination among university students in Honduras and Spain while also investigating the relationship between academic procrastination and the Big Five personality factors alongside self-esteem. The sample comprised 457 university students, encompassing 237 Hondurans and 220 Spaniards. The research employed descriptive, comparative, correlational, and regression analyses. Honduran university students exhibited a significantly lower level of academic procrastination. Correlational analyses revealed that self-esteem and all Big Five personality factors, except for neuroticism in the Spanish cohort, displayed noteworthy associations with academic procrastination. Further regression analyses demonstrated that conscientiousness emerged as a significant predictor of procrastination in both samples. This study's findings can be pivotal in identifying students at risk of procrastination at an early stage. Additionally, the results can inform the development of intervention programs designed to mitigate procrastination tendencies among university students.

Procrastination, Perfectionism, Narcissistic Vulnerability, and Psychological Well-Being in Young Adults: An Italian Study

Procrastination is generally regarded as a dysfunctional tendency to postpone tasks, due to its consequences on performance and psychological well-being. Previous research has indicated that it is linked to perfectionism and narcissism, but with mixed results. The present study explored the interaction between procrastination, perceived parental expectations, multidimensional perfectionism, and narcissism in a sample of 548 Italian young adults aged 18-35 years (M = 23.9; SD = 4.3). Participants completed an online survey consisting of a sociodemographic questionnaire and psychometric measures assessing the constructs of interest. The results showed that: (a) procrastination was positively correlated with socially prescribed perfectionism only, which, in turn, was positively correlated with perceived parental expectations and criticism, and both narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability; (b) perceived parental expectations and criticism and narcissistic vulnerability had a positive effect on socially prescribed perfectionism, while procrastination had a negative one; and (c) narcissistic vulnerability mediated the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and procrastination. Taken together, the findings contribute to a better understanding of the link between procrastination, perfectionism, and narcissism in young adults, and highlight the relevance of contemporary parenting styles and the current sociocultural background for understanding dilatory behaviors.

You just want a break from the hatred of failure: the lived experience of being a student physiotherapist perfectionist and considerations for educators

Perfectionism is a personality orientation associated with mental health and adjustment problems. Recent evidence demonstrates that perfectionism is widespread among students and on the rise, with recent generations of students placing increasingly more importance on perfection. Whilst the extant literature is vast, it tends to focus on psychopathology and identification of perfectionism correlates rather than the experience of student perfectionism. Furthermore, the education literature is scant and there is a need to understand the deeper processes and nuances of perfectionism, particularly within health professions education where intense study demands, competition to gain entry to educational programmes, and professional cultures may nurture the problem. This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of ten physiotherapy students as they wrestled with perfectionism in the various facets of their studies. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken, and participants completed log sheets to document perfectionism-related experiences. Idiographic profiles were composed and interview transcripts were analysed, drawing upon features of both phenomenological and thematic analysis. Perfectionism was found to have toxic consequences for the learning experience. Harmful phenomenological experiences included perpetual and excessive achievement striving, punitive self-criticism and health and wellbeing difficulties. A range of sabotaging learning behaviours such as self-handicapping and feedback avoidance was also illuminated, and cultural and organisational influences perceived to foster perfectionism emerged. Findings are discussed in relation to underlying processes and implications for educators. The prospect of findings transferring to other educational contexts is highlighted.

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of procrastination assessment scale for students

The procrastination assessment scale for students (PASS) has been used widely in evaluating the patterns of university students' procrastination on academic tasks and their procrastination behavior. The present study validated the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the PASS (PASS-C) by recruiting two representative independent sample of Hong Kong Chinese university students (S1 used in the EFA study: 506; S2 used in the CFA study: 506). The results confirmed that this modified Chinese version is a valid and appropriate tool to assess university students' procrastination tendencies in Chinese educational settings.

Perfectionism and L2 Achievement: The Mediating Roles of Motivation and Self-Regulated Learning Among Iranian High School Students

The current study investigated how perfectionism can be related to L2 learners’ achievement with motivation and two aspects of self-regulated learning as possible mediators. This study also evaluated the factor structure of the Big Three Perfectionism Scale (BTPS) in an Iranian sample. The participants were 495 Iranian high school students who completed six BTPS sub-scales and measures of self-determined motivation and self-regulated learning. Psychometric analyses indicated that rigid perfectionism and self-critical perfectionism as two higher order factors have construct validity. Structural equation modeling indicated that rigid perfectionism positively predicted L2 achievement, while self-critical perfectionism negatively predicted L2 achievement. Mediational models indicated that neither autonomous-mastery/performance motivation nor controlled motivation mediated the path from perfectionism to L2 achievement. However, both aspects of self-regulated learning, namely, deep learning and persistence could mediate the relationship between perfectionism and L2 achievement. Specifically, higher levels of self-critical perfectionism were positively related to deep learning and persistence that, in turn, were related to higher L2 achievement. In contrast, self-critical perfectionism was negatively related to deep learning and persistence, that, in turn, were related to lower L2 achievement. The results are discussed in terms of the practical implications for L2 teachers and parents.

Psychometric Properties of the Academic Procrastination Scale (APS) in Brazil

Academic procrastination has a significant influence on students’ lives, being related to several relevant variables, such as lower self-esteem, higher levels of academic anxiety, and fear of failure. The development and adaptation of reliable instruments help to assure a more in-depth study of academic procrastination. The present research aimed to adapt and assess evidence of validity and reliability of the scores of the Academic Procrastination Scale (APS) for a Brazilian sample ( N = 1241). In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis supported the unidimensional structure of the APS (25 items). In Study 2, the one-factor structure had an adequate model fit via confirmatory factor analysis. Also, through item response theory, the APS items showed adequate discrimination, difficulty, and level of information. The scores of the APS were also significantly correlated with the scores of the Tuckman Procrastination Scale, providing evidence of convergent validity.

Motivations for social withdrawal and academic adjustment in emerging adulthood

While social withdrawal in childhood is typically associated with lower academic functioning, little is known about how motivations for social withdrawal may be connected to academic adjustment in emerging adulthood. The purpose of the present study was to examine associations between social withdrawal motivations (i.e., shyness, avoidance and unsociability) and indices of academic adjustment, including academic achievement (i.e., grade point average [GPA]) and academic motivation (i.e., intrinsic value, self-efficacy and test anxiety), while accounting for gender and conscientiousness. Participants were 623 emerging adults between the ages of 18 and 25 (M_age  = 20.15, SD = 1.67; 79% female) who were currently attending university. Hierarchical regression results showed that shyness was negatively associated with intrinsic value and self-efficacy. Whereas shyness was positively associated with test anxiety, avoidance was negatively associated with test anxiety. Social withdrawal motivations were not associated with GPA. The findings suggest that some motivations for social withdrawal play a role in university students' academic motivation, but not their academic achievement.

Academic Procrastination and Negative Emotions Among Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating and Buffering Effects of Online-Shopping Addiction

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2019 has had a significant impact on people’s learning and their lives, including a significant increase in the incidence of academic procrastination and negative emotions. The topic of how negative emotions influences academic procrastination has been long debated, and previous research has revealed a significant relationship between the two. The purpose of this study was to further investigate the mediating and buffering effects of online-shopping addiction on academic procrastination and negative emotions.

Methods

The researchers conducted a correlation analysis followed by a mediation analysis and developed a mediation model. The study used stratified sampling and an online questionnaire as the data collection method. In this study, first, five freshmen students at vocational and technical colleges in Guangdong Province, China, were called to distribute the questionnaire. Second, after communicating with them individually, first-year students of Guangdong origin were selected as participants. Finally, 423 freshman students participated by completing the questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 4 parts: demographic information, an online-shopping-addiction scale, an academic-procrastination scale and a negative-emotions scale. A total of 423 students, 118 males (27.9%) and 305 females (72.1%) from 10 vocational and technical colleges in Guangdong were surveyed. SPSS 25.0 was used to process and analyze the data. The data collected were self-reported.

Results

The results showed that: first, academic procrastination was significantly and positively associated with online-shopping addiction (r = 0.176, p < 0.01). Second, academic procrastination was significantly and positively associated with negative emotions (r = 0.250, p < 0.01). Third, online-shopping addiction was significantly and positively associated with negative emotions (r = 0.358, p < 0.01). In addition, academic procrastination had a significant positive predictive effect on online-shopping addiction (β = 0.1955, t = 3.6622, p < 0.001). Online-shopping addiction had a significant positive predictive effect on negative emotions (β = 0.4324, t = 7.1437, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

This study explored the relationship between students’ academic procrastination, negative emotions, and online-shopping addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicated that students’ level of academic procrastination positively influenced their level of online-shopping addiction and negative emotions, and their level of online-shopping addiction increased their negative emotions. In addition, there was a mediating effect between the degree of participants’ online-shopping addiction and their degree of academic procrastination and negative emotions during the pandemic. In other words, with the mediating effect of online-shopping addiction, the higher the level of a participant’s academic procrastination, the more likely that the participant would have a high score for negative emotions.

The Effect of Parental Academic Achievement Pressure perceived by Middle School Students on Academic Procrastination: The Mediating Role of Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the mediating effect of evaluative concerns perfectionism on the relationship between parental academic achievement pressure perceived by middle school students and their academic procrastination.Methods: The study participants were 522 middle school students from first to third grade from three middle schools located in Gunsan, Iksan, and Jeonju. All data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation coefficients. Structural equation modeling was also used to investigate the mediating model.Results: The result of this study showed that the level of parental academic achievement pressure perceived by middle school students increased their level of academic procrastination. In addition, the level of students’ evaluative concerns perfectionism increased the level of their academic procrastination. Second, middle school students’ evaluative concerns perfectionism partially mediated the relationship between parental academic achievement pressure perceived by them and their academic procrastination. That is, the higher the level of parental academic achievement pressure, the higher the level of evaluative concerns perfectionism, and consequently, the higher the middle school students’ academic procrastination.Conclusion: The outcomes suggest that it is important for parents to set proper expectations for their children and provide them with sufficient support, such as respecting their autonomy in academic decision-making to prevent students’ academic procrastination. In addition, interventions to change maladaptive cognitive beliefs including evaluation concerns perfectionism would help students reduce their academic procrastination. In conclusion, these findings suggest several ways to prevent and decrease middle school students’ academic procrastination by empirically verifying predictors on academic procrastination.

An Italian adaptation of the Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale: Testing measurement invariance across grade levels and exploring associations with academic achievement

This study aims to examine the properties of an Italian version of the Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale (CAPS), one of the most widely used instrument for the assessment of self-oriented (SOP) and socially-prescribed (SPP) perfectionism in young people. The study was conducted on two large samples of middle (n = 379, Mage = 11.31) and high school (n = 451, Mage = 15.21) students. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the expected three-factor structure, comprising SOP-Striving, SOP-Critical, and SPP. Multigroup analyses provided evidence of configural, metric, and (partial) scalar measurement invariance across grade levels. Structural invariance (i.e., the invariance of factor variances and covariances) was also established. The scale scores exhibited a differentiated pattern of relations with personality traits and academic achievement, as measured by school grades: SOP-Critical and SPP were positively related to neuroticism and have adverse effects on grades of middle and high school students, respectively. SOP-Striving, by contrast, was positively related to conscientiousness and predicted higher grades. The SOP-Striving-achievement relation was consistent across grade levels and held even after controlling for individual differences in conscientiousness and neuroticism. In sum, results from this study establish sound psychometric properties for an Italian version of the CAPS, providing support for the dual nature of self-oriented perfectionism among adolescents of different ages.

Review of Perfectionism Research From 1990 to 2019 Utilizing a Text-Mining Approach

Perfectionism is a personality characteristic that has been explored for its implications in mental health; reviews and meta-analyses were conducted to synthesize research findings. This study systemically synthesizes the perfectionism literature using a text-mining approach. Co-word analysis and Dirichlet Multinomial Regression topic modeling were performed on a total of 1,529 perfectionism abstracts published from 1990 to 2019. Analysis revealed that perfectionism research is closely connected with “disorder,” with “symptom” being the most frequently addressed issue. Topic-modeling results found a total of 15 topics represented perfectionism research of the past three decades. Most articles were published in psychology journals, with social and clinical psychology subdisciplines publishing perfectionism articles most frequently. There were overlaps in research topics by journal subdisciplines, while differences were also observed. This study provides a panoramic view of perfectionism literature and highlights frequently and infrequently explored areas that could be considered in future research endeavors.

Proactive Personality and Academic Engagement: The Mediating Effects of Teacher-Student Relationships and Academic Self-Efficacy

A proactive personality provides students with strong competitiveness in academic learning. However, previous research primarily focused on the effects of the big five facets, and less attention was paid to proactive personality which shows more incremental validity in learning. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between proactive personality and academic engagement. The sample consisted of 519 students (245 females, 274 males; M_age = 10.20, SD = 0.891). The study used Mplus 7.0 software to establish structural equation models (SEM). The results showed a significant positive relationship between proactive personality and academic engagement. Teacher-student relationships and academic self-efficacy were found to fully mediate separately between proactive personality and academic engagement. Moreover, the serial mediator model indicated that proactive personality was sequentially related to academic engagement through teacher-student relationships and academic self-efficacy. The implications for learning and teaching are discussed.

Psychometric properties of the UWES-9S in Peruvian college students

The objective of this study was to evaluate the internal structure dimensionality of the Utrech Work Engagement Scale – Student (UWES–9S) and its association with the academic procrastination reported by 321 psychology students from a private university in Cajamarca (Peru) ranging between 17 and 41 years old (79% women; Mage = 22.50 years; 84% between 17 and 25 years old). The UWES-9S and the Academic Procrastination Scale (APS) were used and both a confirmatory and a bifactor analysis were conducted on the UWES–9S, as well as a structural regression analysis that specified the influence of the general and specific dimensions of engagement on the dimensions of academic procrastination. Regarding the results, the bifactor model is the one that best defines the construct, whereas the general dimension of engagement has a greater influence on the dimensions of academic procrastination than the specific ones. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed, as well as the need to focus on the students’ positive resources in order to achieve greater involvement in their academic work.

Academic Hardiness as a Moderator between Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism and Academic Procrastination in Students

Academic procrastination is a common phenomenon in students that can have a negative impact on effective learning, academic achievement, self-esteem, and quality of life. This study examined the associations among the two dimensions of perfectionism (personal standards perfectionism and evaluative concerns perfectionism), academic hardiness, and academic procrastination, as well as the moderating role of academic hardiness in the relationship between the two dimensions of perfectionism and academic procrastination. Participants of this study included 410 high school students in grades 9 to 12 from six schools in Tehran, Iran who completed the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised, the Academic Hardiness Scale, and the Procrastination Assessment Scale. The results indicated that personal standards perfectionism and academic hardiness had negative relationships with academic procrastination, whereas evaluative concerns perfectionism had a positive relationship with academic procrastination. Interaction-moderation analysis demonstrated that academic hardiness only played a buffering role in the relationship between evaluative concerns perfectionism and academic procrastination. The results of this study elucidate the experience of academic procrastination in students and highlight the role of academic hardiness and personal standards perfectionism. Implications for educators and psychologists are discussed.