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Time Orientations of Procrastinators: Focusing on the Past, Present, or Future?

Marc H. Specter Joseph R. Ferrari
DePaul University
The relationship between cognitive and behavioral forms of procrastination and perceptions of time were assessed from self-reported measures. Participants (N = 215) completed measures of decisional procrastination, avoidant procrastination, and temporal orientation (i.e., past, present, or future focused). Zero order correlates showed that both decisional and avoidant procrastination tendencies were related significantly positively to past orientation and negatively to future orientation. Furthermore, maximum likelihood factor analyses (varimax rotations) revealed a three factor structure with eigenvalues greater than one that explained 68% of the common variance. Both decisional and avoidant procrastination tendencies loaded negatively with future orientation. Past and present orientations each loaded on independent factors.

Procrastination is the tendency to delay ones actions or decisions, and is reported to be a very common occurrence among many normal, nonclinical adult populations (Ellis & Kraus, 1977; Harriot & Ferrari, 1996). Research indicates that persons identified as chronic procrastinators, compared to nonprocrastinators, spent less preparation time on tasks that were likely to succeed, more time on projects likely to fail, and tended to underestimate the overall time required to complete tasks (Lay, 1990; McCown, Johnson & Rupert, 1987). The frequent association of procrastination with a number of affective, behavioral, and cognitive characteristics suggests that it comprises more than inefficient time management (Ferrari, Johnson, & McCown, 1995). For instance, frequent delays result in self-imposed health and stress problems (Ferrari & Tice, 1999). Correlational studies report that chronic procrastination tendencies have been related to low self-confidence and low self-esteem, as well as to states of high anxiety, neurosis, diffuse identity, forgetfulness, selfAuthor Info: Joseph R. Ferrari, Department of Psychology, DePaul University, 2219 North Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614-3504; (773) 325-7887; e-mail jferrari@ wppost.depaul.edu. Ferrari, J.R., & Pychyl, T.A. (Eds.). Procrastination: Current Issues and New Directions. [Special Issue]. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2000, Vol. 15, No. 5, 197202. 2000 Select Press, Corte Madera, CA, 415/209-9838.

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presentation concerns, perfectionism, disorganization, and noncompetitiveness (Beswick, Rothblum, & Mann, 1988; Effert & Ferrari, 1989; Ferrari, 1991c, 1991d, 1992; Lay, 1986, 1987, 1988; McCown, Johnson, & Petzel, 1989). When compared with nonprocrastinators, chronic procrastinators also reported significantly greater levels of public self-consciousness, excuse-making, social anxiety, illness, and selfhandicapping tendencies (Ferrari, 1991a; Ferrari & Beck, 1998; Ferrari & Tice, 1999). Procrastinators also attempt behavioral self-handicapping (Ferrari, 1991b,) engage in impression management (Ferrari, 1991c; Ferrari & Tice, 1999), actively avoid receiving self-relevant information (Ferrari, 1991d), and behave in a perfectionist manner for ingratiation purposes (Ferrari, 1992) more than nonprocrastinators. In general, these studies demonstrate that procrastinators tend to have substantially more maladaptive behavior patterns and personality tendencies than nonprocrastinators. Baumeister (1997) claimed that deficiencies incurred by procrastinators were due to inefficient self-regulation. A theory of action versus state orientation proposed by Kuhl and Beckman (1994) provides further support for this idea. One characteristic of state-oriented individuals in comparison with action-oriented individuals is a tendency towards symbolic representation of goals, an invasion of working memory that Kuhl refers to as preoccupation. This constant interruption creates a disassociation between working memory and the task at hand. The current study attempts to provide some insight into the types of preoccupations on dealing with tasks associated with temporal aspects by chronic procrastinators in comparison to nonprocrastinators. METHOD Participants A total of 215 college students (174 female, 41 male; M age = 21.18, SD = 6.06) attending a private, urban university participated in this study. All participants were enrolled in an introductory psychology class and received course credit for their involvement. Psychometric Inventories All participants completed the following three measures designed for research purposes: Manns (1982) Decisional Procrastination (DP) Scale. This item is a 5-item, 5-point scale taken from a set of measures on coping patterns (see Janis & Mann, 1977). High scores indicate a tendency to put off decisions by doing other tasks. Procrastination items include I delay in making decisions until it is too late and I put off making decisions.

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The scale has a Cronbach alpha of .80 (retest .69; Effert & Ferrari, 1989). McCown & Johnsons Adult Inventory of Procrastination (AP) (available in Ferrari et al, 1995).. This inventory consists of 15 items, each measured on a 5-point scale that assesses an individuals behavioral tendency to delay the beginning or completion of tasks. High scores were indicative of frequent behavioral procrastination. Sample items include I dont get things done on time and I am not very good at meeting deadlines. The scale has a coefficient alpha of .79 (retest .71; Ferrari et al., 1995). Jones, Banicky, Lasane, and Pomares (1996) Temporal Orientation Scale. This is a 26-item inventory comprising three subscales measuring past (10 items), present (7 items), and future (9 items) orientation. Sample items include I often think about things I used to do, I try to live one day at a time, and I take care of what needs to be done before having fun. Lasane and Jones (1996) report this measure is linked to academic success including high grade point averages. This sample obtained alphas of .89, .50, and .77, respectively, for the past, present, and future orientation subscales. Procedure At a large prescreening session during the first week of classes, students enrolled in introductory psychology signed and returned a consent form and then completed a demographic questionnaire and the decisional (DP) and avoidant (AP) procrastination measures (embedded among several scales). Students completed the time orientation scale as part of a set of follow-up measures in another experiment. It took participants a total of 2530 minutes to complete all of these measures. A Pearson correlation and factory analysis were performed. RESULTS T-tests for independent samples were computed between men and women to ascertain whether there were significant gender differences on self-report measures. There were no significant gender differences on procrastination or time orientation variables; therefore, all further analyses collapsed across gender. Zero-order Correlates Table 1 presents the mean scores, coefficient alphas, and zero-order correlates between self-reported measures. As noted from the table, most variables had acceptable internal consistency for research purposes. Consistent with previous research (see Ferrari et al., 1995), decisional and avoidant procrastination tendencies were significantly related. Moreover, both forms of procrastination tendencies were significantly posi-

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Table 1

Mean Score, Coefficient Alpha, and Bivariate Correlation Coefficients Between Procrastination Tendencies and Time Orientation Variables (N = 215)
M alpha .83 .70 DP . .42** . AP PAST PRST

Decisional procrastination (DP) Avoidant procrastination (AP) Time Orientation: past (PAST) present (PRST) future

12 .53 (4.69) 40.29 (10.17)

4.08 (1.25) 4.54 (0.93) 4.72 (1.02)

.89 .50 .77

.32* -.17 -.45**

.17 -.02 -.37**

. -.07 .08 .15

Note: Values in parentheses are standard deviation. * = p < .01; ** = p < .001.

tively related to past orientation and negatively to future orientation. Fischer t-tests then were performed to determine whether there was a significant difference in the magnitude between DP and AP coefficients at past and future orientations. There were no significant differences in these pairs of values. Decisional procrastination also was significantly negatively related to present orientation, and present and future time orientations were significantly positively related. Factor Analysis of Self-reported Variables A factor analysis of the procrastination and time orientation measures was conducted. Maximum likelihood analysis revealed a three factor solution with eigenvalues greater than one, explaining 68% of the common variance. A varimax rotation then was performed in order to obtain orthogonal factor loadings. Table 2 presents the varimax factor structure loadings. As noted from the table, using a criterion of .50 or greater for factor loadings, future time orientation loaded negatively on a factor with both decisional and avoidant procrastination tendencies. Present and past time orientations each loaded on separate factors. DISCUSSION The results of this brief study indicate that men and women with either cognitive or behavioral procrastination tendencies report that they

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TABLE 2

Standard Regression Analysis (Varimax Rotation) (N = 215)

Factor 1 Factor 2 .35 .01 -.43 .80 .05 1.33 19.0 Factor 3 .17 .26 .49 .11 .89 1.05 14.9

Future time orientation Decisional procrastination Avoidant procrastination Present time orientation Past time orientation Eigenvalues Percentage of variance
Note:Values in bold are loadings > .50.

-.80 .70 .53 .03 .02 2.39 34.1

focus more on the past and less on the future. These results are consistent with the work by Lay (1988; 1990) with college students who delay their examination preparations partly because they make poor judgements of time . Moreover, this study sheds some light on why persons with frequent procrastination tendencies may fail at working to schedule on personal projects. Perhaps, these individuals attend more to their past accomplishments and less to future goals. Procrastinators may be unable to delay future gratifications (Ferrari & Emmons, 1995) because they are too preoccupied with reminiscing about the past and are not future oriented. Alternatively, since procrastinators seem to be good excusemakers or why they are unable to complete a present task (Ferrari & Beck, 1998). It may be that they recall past events where their tendency toward delaying resulted in successful task completion. Each of these hypotheses needs further exploration. They raise interesting avenues for future research. REFERENCES
Baumeister, R.F. (1997). Esteem threat, self-regulation, breakdown, and emotional distress as a function of self-defeating behavior. Review in General Psychology, 1, 145174. Beswick, G., Rothblum, E.D., & Mann, L. (1988). Psychological antecedents to student procrastination. Australian Psychologist, 23, 207-217. Effert, B., & Ferrari, J.R. (1989). Decisional procrastination: Examining personality correlates. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 4, 151-156. Ellis, A., & Kraus, K. (1997). On procrastination. New York: Free Press. Ferrari, J.R. (1991a). Compulsive procrastinations: Some self-reported characteristics. Psychological Reports, 68, 455-458.

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Ferrari, J.R. (1991b). Self-handicapping by procrastinators: Protecting selfesteem, social-esteem, or both? Journal of Research in Personality, 25, 245261. Ferrari, J.R. (1991c). A preference for a favorable public impression by procrastinators: Selecting among cognitive and social tasks. Personality and Individual Differences, 12,1233-1237. Ferrari, J.R. (1991d). Procrastination and project creation: Choosing easy, nondiagnostic items to avoid self-relevant information. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 6, 619-628. Ferrari, J.R. (1992). Procrastination and perfect behavior: An exploratory factor analysis of self-presentation, self-awareness, and self-handicapping components. Journal of Research in Personality, 26, 75-84. Ferrari, J.R., & Beck, B.L. (1998). Affective consequences of procrastination before, during, and after fraudulent excuses. Education, 118, 529-537. Ferrari, J.R., & Emmons, R. (1995). Methods of procrastination and their relation to self-control and self-reinforcement. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 10, 135142. Ferrari, J.R., Johnson, J., & McCown, W. (Eds.). (1995). Procrastination and task avoidance: Theory, research, and treatment. New York: Plenum. Ferrari, J.R., & Tice, D.M. (1999). Procrastination as a self-handicap for men and women: A task avoidance strategy in a laboratory setting. Unpublished manuscript. Harriot, J., & Ferrari, J.R. (1996). Prevalence of procrastination among samples of adults. Psychological Bulletin, 78, 611-616. Kuhl, J., & Beckmann, J. (1994). Volition and personality: Action versus state orientation. Germany: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers. Jones, J.M., Banicky, L., Lasane, T., Pomare, M. (1996). The temporal orientation scale. Unpublished measure available from T. Lasane, Dept. of Psychology, St. Marys College, St. Marys City, MD, 20618 Lasane, T.P. & Jones, J.M. (1996). Criterion validity of a measure of temporal orientation. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Philadelphia, PA. Lay, C.H. (1986). At last, my research in procrastination. Journal of Research in Personality, 20, 479-495. Lay, C.H. (1987). A model profile procrastinators: A search for types. Personality and Individual Differences, 8, 705-714. Lay, C.H. (1988). The relationship of procrastination and optimism to judgements of time to complete an essay anticipation of setback. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 3, 201-214. Lay, C.H. (1990). Working to schedule on personal projects: An assessment of person-object characteristics and trait procrastination. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 5, 91-104. McCown, W., Johnson, J., & Petzel, T. (1989). Procrastination, a principal component analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 10, 197-202. McCown, W., Johnson, J., & Rupert, P. (1987). An experimental study of some hypothesized behaviors and personality variables of college student procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 8, 781-786. Tice, D.M., & Baumeister, R.F. (1997). Longitudinal study of procrastination, performance, stress, and health: The costs and benefits of dawdling. Psychological Science, 8, 454458.