Personality’s impact on procrastination behaviors in students in early adolescence

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the connections between personality traits and the tendency to procrastination behaviors in students during the period of early adolescence. Material and methods 530 students participated in this study (at seventh and eight grade of primary school, attending four primary schools), aged 13 to 15 (M= 13.5; SD=.48; including 53,5% girls and 46,5% boys). It was presumed that in the discussed stage of development, personality traits form intensively patterns of behavior that determine future choices when it comes to education and professional career solidify. The methods used in the study were: Ten Item Personality Inventory TIPI (TIPI-P is the Polish version of the tool; Łaguna, Bak, Purc, Mielniczuk, Oleś, 2014 and the Pure Procrastination Scale (PPS - Steel, 2010; in the Polish adaptation by Stępień and Cieciuch, 2013, with amendments by Stępień and Topolewska, 2014). Results In studies carried out to date, connections between personality traits, such as conscientiousness and neuroticism with procrastination, were stressed. Nevertheless to date, there is a lack of systematic studies on connections between personality traits and procrastination in younger adolescents. This study allows to fill in this gap, and, in practical dimension, to provide preceptors – teachers and parents with conclusions for pedagogical work with young people that would be aimed at promoting the skill of accurate planning of activities in time, setting important goals and adequate ways of reaching them. Conclusions The results showed that boys have significantly higher emotional stability than girls. What is more, in the group of girls, conscientiousness and emotional stability are significant predictors of procrastination, whereas in the case of boys – agreeableness and conscientiousness.

Keywords

• personality
• big five
• school
• procrastination
• early adolescence