Academic Procrastination in Greek Higher Education: Shedding Light on a Darkened yet Critical Issue

Abstract

Αcademic procrastination, characterized by self-regulation difficulties in delaying the start or completion of academic tasks (Ferrari, 2010), is widespread among university students. One of the most widely used measures of academic procrastination is Procrastination Assessment Scale Students (PASS, Solomon &Rotblum, 1984). However, there is a dearth of research investigating its factorial structure using confirmatory factor analysis. Greek studies on academic procrastination are also scarce. The present study investigated academic procrastination among Greek university students (n = 865),as well as the factorial structure of PΑSS. Results from a CFA supported a one factor solution. Moreover, 40.5% of students were characterized as frequent procrastinators, towards reading for the exams, writing essays or attending classes. The reasons students gave for procrastinating were “fear of failure”, “task aversion”, “fear of success /peer pressure” and “lack of assertiveness/ time management skills”. No major, age, or gender differences in academic procrastination were detected. Finally, most students wished to participate in a future anti-procrastination program. Findings increase the ecological validity of current literature and could be potentially useful for counselors and researchers

Keywords

• Academic procrastination
• Confirmatory factor analysis
• Reasons
• gender differences
• Intervention