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Productive procrastination: academic procrastination style predicts academic and alcohol outcomes
Author(s) -
Westgate Erin C.,
Wormington Stephanie V.,
Oleson Kathryn C.,
Lindgren Kristen P.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/jasp.12417
Subject(s) - procrastination , psychology , social psychology , developmental psychology
Productive procrastination replaces one adaptive behavior with another adaptive—albeit less important—behavior (e.g., organizing notes instead of studying for an exam). We identified adaptive and maladaptive procrastination styles associated with academic and alcohol outcomes in 1,106 college undergraduates. Cluster analysis identified five academic procrastination styles— non‐procrastinators , academic productive procrastinators , non‐academic productive procrastinators, non‐academic procrastinators , and classic procrastinators . Procrastination style differentially predicted alcohol‐related problems, cravings, risk of alcohol use disorders, and grade point average (all ps < .01). Non‐procrastination and academic productive procrastination were most adaptive overall; non‐academic productive procrastination, non‐academic procrastination, and classic procrastination were least adaptive. Productive procrastination differed from other procrastination strategies, and maladaptive procrastination styles may be a useful risk indicator for preventative and intervention efforts.