Doing the things we do: A grounded theory of academic procrastination.

Contents: Preface. L.L. Martin, A. Tesser, Introduction. Part I: Affective and Behavioral Consequences. C.S. Carver, J.W. Lawrence, M.F. Scheier, A Control-Process Perspective on the Origins of Affect. W.D. McIntosh, When Does Goal Nonattainment Lead to Negative Emotional Reactions and When Doesn't It?: The Role of Linking and Rumination. R.A. Emmons, H.A. Kaiser, Goal Orientation and Emotional Well-Being: Linking Goals and Affect Through the Self. W. Cochran, A. Tesser, The the Hell Effect: Some Effects of Goal Proximity and Goal Framing on Performance. Part II: Affective Consequences of Self-Organization and Self-Regulation. J.B. Halberstadt, P.M. Niedenthal, M.B. Setterlund, Cognitive Organization of Different Tenses of the Self Mediates Affect and Decision Making. C.J. Showers, K.C. Kling, The Organization of Self-Knowledge: Implications for Mood Regulation. T.J. Strauman, Self-Beliefs, Self-Evaluation, and Depression: A Perspective on Emotional Vulnerability. C. Sansone, J.M. Harackiewicz, I Don't Feel Like It: The Function of Interest in Self-Regulation. J.A. Singer, P. Salovey, Motivated Memory: Self-Defining Memories, Goals, and Affect Regulation. R. Erber, The Self-Regulation of Moods. Part III: How Goals and Affect Influence Other Processes. L.L. Martin, P. Stoner, Mood as Input: What We Think About How We Feel Determines How We Think. E.R. Hirt, H.E. McDonald, R.J. Melton, Processing Goals and the Affect-Performance Link: Mood as Main Effect or Mood as Input? D.T. Wegener, R.E. Petty, Effects of Mood on Persuasion Processes: Enhancing, Reducing, and Biasing Scrutiny of Attitude-Relevant Information. K. Oatley, P.N. Johnson-Laird, The Communicative Theory of Emotions: Empirical Tests, Mental Models, and Implications for Social Interaction.

An Overview of Procrastination. Procrastination Research: A Synopsis of Existing Research Perspectives. Assessment of Academic and Everyday Procrastination: The Use of Self-report Measures. Academic Procrastination: Theoretical Notions, Measurement, and Research H. Schouenberg. Trait Procrastination, Dejection, and Self Discrepancy C.H. Lay. Dimensions of Perfectionism and Procrastination G. Flett et al. Procrastination, Negative Selfevaluation, and Stress in Depression and Anxiety: A Review and Preliminary Model G.L. Flett, et al. The Role of Personality Disorders and Characterological Tendencies in Procrastination. Treatment of Academic Procrastination in College Students. Treating Adult and Atypical Procrastination. Epilogue as Prologue: Future Directions in the Study of Procrastination. Index.

Chapter 1. A Model for Qualitative Research Design Chapter 2. Goals: Why Are You Doing This Study? Chapter 3. Conceptual Framework: What Do You Think Is Going On? Chapter 4. Research Questions: What Do You Want to Understand? Chapter 5. Methods: What Will You Actually Do? Chapter 6. Validity: How Might You Be Wrong? Chapter 7. Research Proposals: Presenting and Justifying a Qualitative Study Appendix A. A Proposal for a Study of Medical School Teaching Appendix B. A Proposal for a Study of Online Learning by Teachers

Research has neglected to examine experiential aspects of academic cramming. In present study, we assessed relationship between cramming and Csikszentrnihalyi's (1990, 1997) state. We expected that experiencing such would be more likely for who typically cram than for non-crammers. One hundred sixty-one undergraduates participated in study. Following simulation of cramming session, they completed measure of experienced during task. Results indicated that who normally cram performed better on test and reported higher scores than non-crammers. Implications for research on and study habits are presented. ********** Many educators probably have negative view of efficacy and wisdom of academic procrastination and cramming. At same time, it is safe to say that many college have either need or preference for academic procrastination and cramming. For example, surveys of procrastination and cramming show that most do both at least on occasion (e.g., Ferrari, Johnson, & McCown, 1995; Hill, Hill, Chabot, & Barrall, 1978; Solomon & Rothblum, 1984; Vacha & McBride, 1993). Some researchers claim that academic procrastination and cramming are part of an adaptive study and performance strategy (e.g., Crewe, 1969; W. Sommer, 1990), whereas others argue that academic crammers suffer from lack of both motivation and self-regulation (Tuckman, 1991, 1998). As R. Sommer (1968) put it, cramming is a technique as widely condemned by educators as it is widely used by students (p. 104). There remains considerable debate about relative costs and benefits of both academic procrastination and cramming. The intent of our study was to examine their experiential aspects, something that has been neglected by researchers. In particular, we proposed that major positive effect of cramming is that may feel something akin to flow state discussed by Csikszentmihalyi (1990, 1997). Procrastination and cramming Lay (1986) defined procrastination as the tendency to postpone that which is necessary to reach some goal (p. 475). Most research has focused on academic procrastination (such as delays in completing writing assignments, staying caught up on reading assignments, and preparing for exams) and neurotic indecision (i.e., postponement of major life decisions or other forms of self-defeating behaviors) (see Milgram, Sroloff, & Rosenbaum, 1988). However, procrastination also applies to wide variety of everyday goal-directed behaviors, including paying bills, doing dishes, and making dental appointments (Lay, 1986, 1992; Milgram et al., 1988). One of major results of procrastinating in academic realm is need for cramming. R. Sommer (1968) defined cramming as a heavy burst of studying immediately before an exam which followed long period of neglect and reliance on memorization rather than understanding (p. 105). As Vacha and McBride (1993) noted, Sommer's definition contains two dimensions -- heavy bursting (what we shall call cramming) and neglect or procrastination. In his classic research on cramming, R. Sommer (1968) argued that there are many reasons for cramming, including such factors as difficulty or interestingness of course and type of exams given. In series of studies, Sommer found that almost all (even successful ones) reported at least some cramming for exams, that most reported cramming more in college than in high school, and that most did not begin serious study for final exams until week before finals began. On negative side, who crammed for finals reported increased disruptions in their normal eating and sleeping routines and increased stress and other physical symptoms (e.g., nervousness, headaches, eyestrain). Among positives reported by student crammers were increased concentration on materials and better memory for them. …

Abstract Procrastination (the lack of time spent practicing before an upcoming target task) may be conceptualized as a behavioral self-handicap. In two studies, participants (Study 1, 40 women and 19 men; Study 2, 48 women and 40 men) rated themselves on a measure of chronic procrastination in a general testing session. When participants reported individually to a laboratory, they were told that their performance on a math task would be measured. However, participants were allowed to practice the task or engage in other, fun activities (e.g., playing with a video game or working on a puzzle) for 15 min; hence, “procrastinate” at practicing. Participants in the first study spent an average of 9 of 15 min (60% of the time) procrastinating by working on all activities except practicing math problems. In the second study, where the exact same math task was identified as a fun game, chronic procrastinators did not practice less than nonprocrastinators, suggesting that procrastination (lack of practice) occurs as a behavioral self-handicap. In both studies, when the task was identified as an important evaluation of cognitive skills, chronic procrastinators compared to nonprocrastinators spent more time on the fun, alternative tasks and less time preparing for the evaluation. Procrastination by lack of practicing on a task occurred only when the task was identified as evaluative, not when the identical task was labeled as a fun or pleasurable activity.

High School students responded to an inventory which included dispositional measures of procrastination and social evaluation trait anxiety. Subsequently, and 7 days prior to their first examination (Stage 1), each of the 40 female and 23 male students completed measures of state anxiety, perception of the stressor situation, and ways of coping, all with regard to their approaching exam period. These judgments were repeated 1 day prior to their first examination (Stage 2), and again 5 days after their last examination (Stage 3). Correlational analyses indicated that threat and harm perceptions were highly positively related to state anxiety, whereas challenge and gain were moderately and negatively related. State anxiety was linked to emotion‐focused coping, but was independent of problem‐focused coping. In an analysis of variance, high procrastination, high trait anxious subjects felt the least challenged at Stage 1. In a ‘maverick’, post hoc analysis, high procrastinators were more likely than low procrastinators at each stage to promise themselves ‘that things will be different next time’. Discussion included an assessment of the need for specificity when using the Ways of Coping (Folkman and Lazarus, 1985) scale.

Abstract Female college students (N = 112) completed a test battery of personality scales and performance tasks at home over four consecutive evenings, under one of eight combinations of the following experimental conditions: Schedule Source (experimenter versus self) × Scheduled Starting Time (strict versus lenient) × Plausibility of the Experiment. Delay in starting, summed over four evenings, constituted the measure of behavioral procrastination. This measure was moderately correlated with high test anxiety scores and low self-regulation. Procrastination was exacerbated when subjects were permitted to schedule the time of their expected completion of the test battery. Significant interactions of specific experimental conditions and specific personal traits demonstrated the situational requirements for trait-behavior relationships to emerge. Findings supported the internal consistency and construct validity of the behavioral procrastination measure. The practical and heuristic applications of a stimulus...

Academic procrastination includes failing to perform an activity within the desired time frame or postponing until the last minute activities one ultimately intends to complete. As such, high levels of procrastination appear inconsistent with the behaviors typically attributed to self-regulated learners, However, research exploring the relation between these 2 constructs is lacking. Two studies (N = 168 and N = 152) examining procrastination and its relation to several key components of self-regulated learning using self-report surveys are reported here. Results indicate that procrastination was related to college students' self-efficacy and work-avoidant goal orientation and, to a lesser extent, their use of metacognitive strategies. Findings are discussed with regard to prior research on self-regulated learning and procrastination and to future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Analyse factorielle des raisons invoquees par 342 etudiants pour rendre compte de leur temporisation dans certaines tâches universitaires, apres un examen de la frequence d'un tel comportement

Introduction Getting Started Theoretical Sensitivity The Uses of Literature Open Coding Techniques for Enhancing Theoretical Sensitivity Axial Coding Selective Coding Process The Conditional Matrix Theoretical Sampling Memos and Diagrams Writing Theses and Monographs, and Giving Talks about Your Research Criteria for Judging a Grounded Theory Study

The goal of this research was to detail college students’ beliefs about the examinations they face. We interviewed those closest to the exam preparation process, those who make the decisions about when, how, and what to study, college students themselves. Students responded to progressively more focussed questions. The conclusions that emerged from several rounds of questioning were checked with a new sample of students. What emerged was a complex set of beliefs about the examination preparation process. The students expressed beliefs about four aspects of exam preparation: (a) motivations to study for exams, (b) strategies for exam preparation, (c) affect about exam preparation, and (d) effects of external factors on study (e.g., instructors, previous exam experiences, social environment, physical environment, and content that is to be studied).

Abstract Procrastinators have reported experiencing low self-esteem and high social anxiety. The present study explored whether these characteristics promoted the choice of an environmental performance obstacle more by procrastinators than nonprocrastinators as an attempt to protect social and self-esteems. Female procrastinators (n = 57) self-reported significantly lower self-esteem but not abstract for verbal thinking abilities than female nonprocrastinators (n = 63). Participants then were assigned randomly to one of four conditions, in which they could choose the presence of a distracting, debilitating noise when their performance on either a (bogus) diagnostic or nondiagnostic task was public or private to a female experimenter. Procrastinators (49.1%) were more likely than nonprocrastinators (30.2%) to self-handicap. Most procrastinators handicapped in public when the task was nondiagnostic of ability (69.2%) or in private when the task was diagnostic of ability (73.3%), as opposed to public-diagnostic (35.7%) or private-nondiagnostic (20.0%) conditions. There was no significant tendency across conditions to self-handicap by nonprocrastinators. Results were explained by self- and social-esteem protection motives employed by procrastinators.

This book explores the philosophical underpinnings, history and key elements of five qualitative inquiry traditions: biography, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography and case study. John W Creswell relates research designs to each of the traditions of inquiry and compares each of the research strategies for theoretical frameworks, writing introduction to studies, collecting data, analyzing data, writing the narrative, and employing standards of quality and verifying results. Five journal articles in the appendix offer fascinating reading as well as examples of the five different qualitative designs.

Introduction - Norman K Denzin and Yvonna S Lincoln The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research PART ONE: LOCATING THE FIELD Qualitative Methods - Arthur J Vidich and Stanford M Lyman Their History in Sociology and Anthropology Reconstructing the Relationships between Universities and Society through Action Research - Davydd J Greenwood and Morten Levin For Whom? Qualitative Research, Representations and Social Responsibilities - Michelle Fine et al Ethics and Politics in Qualitative Research - Clifford G Christians PART TWO: PARADIGMS AND PERSPECTIVES IN TRANSITION Paradigmatic Controversies, Contradictions and Emerging Confluences - Yvonna S Lincoln and Egon G Guba Three Epistemological Stances for Qualitative Inquiry - Thomas A Schwandt Interpretivism, Hermeneutics and Social Constructionism Feminisms and Qualitative Research at and into the Millennium - Virginia L Olesen Racialized Discourses and Ethnic Epistemologies - Gloria Ladson-Billings Rethinking Critical Theory and Qualitative Research - Joe L Kincheloe and Peter McLaren Cultural Studies - John Frow and Meaghan Morris Sexualities, Queer Theory and Qualitative Research - Joshua Gamson PART THREE: STRATEGIES OF INQUIRY The Choreography of Qualitative Research Design - Valerie J Janesick Minuets, Improvisations and Crystallization An Untold Story? Doing Funded Qualitative Research - Julianne Cheek Performance Ethnography - Michal M McCall A Brief History and Some Advice Case Studies - Robert E Stake Ethnography and Ethnographic Representation - Barbara Tedlock Analyzing Interpretive Practice - Jaber F Gubrium and James A Holstein Grounded Theory - Kathy Charmaz Objectivist and Constructivist Methods Undaunted Courage - William G Tierney Life History and the Postmodern Challenge Testimonio, Subalternity and Narrative Authority - John Beverley Participatory Action Research - Stephen Kemmis and Robin McTaggart Clinical Research - William L Miller and Benjamin F Crabtree PART FOUR: METHODS OF COLLECTING AND ANALYZING EMPIRICAL MATERIALS The Interview - Andrea Fontana and James H Frey From Structured Questions to Negotiated Text Rethinking Observation - Michael V Angrosino and Kimberly A Mays de Perez From Method to Context The Interpretation of Documents and Material Culture - Ian Hodder Re-Imagining Visual Methods - Douglas Harper Galileo to Neuromancer Auto-Ethnography, Personal Narrative, Reflexivity - Carolyn Ellis and Arthur P Bochner Researcher as Subject Data Management and Analysis Methods - Gery W Ryan and H Russell Bernard Software and Qualitative Research - Eben A Weitzman Analyzing Talk and Text - David Silverman Focus Groups in Feminist Research - Esther Madriz Applied Ethnography - Erve Chambers PART FIVE: THE ART AND PRACTICES OF INTERPRETATION, EVALUATION AND REPRESENTATION The Problem of Criteria in the Age of Relativism - John K Smith and Deborah K Deemer The Practices and Politics of Interpretation - Norman K Denzin Writing - Laurel Richardson A Method of Inquiry Anthropological Poetics - Ivan Brady Understanding Social Programs through Evaluation - Jennifer C Greene Influencing the Policy Process with Qualitative Research - Ray C Rist PART SIX: THE FUTURE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Qualitative Inquiry - Mary M Gergen and Kenneth J Gergen Tensions and Transformations The Seventh Moment - Yvonna S Lincoln and Norman K Denzin Out of the Past

Clear power differentials between teacher and pupil and the assignment of well-delineated tasks within specified time constraints characterize the academic system. Most university students are supremely adept at working within that structure. Many students who outwardly adapt to the system, however, engage in an intense and private ritual that comprises five aspects: calculated procrastination, preparatory anxiety, climactic cramming, nick-of-time deadline-making, and a secret, if often uncelebrated, victory. These adept students often find it difficult to admit others into their efficient program of academic survival. Although such behaviors are adaptive for school rhythms and expectations, these students may also try to impose them onto personal relationships, including those that are psychotherapeutic. The students' tendency to transfer their longstanding habits of procrastination and cramming to the workplace after graduation is less problematic. The argument is made that school rhythms and expectations shape the workplace, not vice versa. Methods of addressing the troublesome aspects of these work styles are suggested. Rather than attempting to change existing work patterns, the therapist can identify the underlying psychodynamic drama and its attendant manifestations that are becoming problematic.

Young adults (202 women, 61 men: M = 20.9) completed measures of decisional and behavioral procrastination, self-esteem, interpersonal dependency, and self-defeating behavior. Correlational analysis indicated that both procrastination types separately and combined were significantly related to low self-esteem, dependency on others, and defeating behaviors. Among specific self-defeating behaviors, decisional procrastination was related to failing to complete crucial tasks, inciting anger in others, and rejecting good-spirited others. Behavioral procrastination was related to failing task completion, rejecting well-minded others, feeling guilty after a positive event, and choosing handicapping situations. Multiple regression analyses indicated that self-defeating tendencies of failure to complete crucial tasks and rejecting oppurtunities for pleasure were significant predictors of decisional, behavioral, and overall dysfunctional procrastination. Interpersonal dependency also was a significant predictor of both decisional and dysfunctional procrastination, while self-esteem predicted behavioral procrastination. These results suggest that types of procrastination may be predicted by similar personality factors, and that chronic procrastination is dysfunctional toward achieving life goals.

Abstract This paper considered three studies designed to examine procrastinatory behavior. In Study I, a general form (G) of a true-false procrastination scale was created. This form was based on an earlier version of the scale containing parallel forms A and B. Procrastination was positively related to measures of disorganization and independent of need-achievement, energy level , and self-esteem . High scorers on the procrastination scale were more likely to return their completed inventory late. Procrastination was unrelated to grade-point average ( R = −10). In Study II, subjects completed Form G of the procrastination scale and a variation of Little's (1983) Personal Projects Questionnaire. Based on ratings of their personal projects, procrastinators and nonprocrastinators were distinguished in a number of ways, foremost being the nonprocrastinator's more positive response to the project dimension of stress and the procrastinator's greater sensitivity to how enjoyable the project was in terms of time spent. In Study III, after completing a personality inventory, air-passengers awaiting their flight departure were asked to take an envelope with them and to mail it back on a designated date. Procrastinators were less accurate in doing so than were nonprocrastinators. Various aspects of procrastinatory behavior were discussed, including a reconsideration of the defining of the construct.

PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1. Overview of Focus Groups 2. Planning the Focus Group Study 3. Developing a Questioning Route 4. Participants in a Focus Group 5. Moderating Skills 6. Analyzing Focus Group Results 7. Reporting 8. Styles of Focus Group Research 9. Focus Group Interviews With Young People 10. International and Cross-Cultural Focus Groups Interviewing 11. Telephone and Internet Focus Group Interviewing 12. Focus Group Interviews Within the Organization 13. Modifications of Focus Groups 14. Answering Questions About the Quality of Focus Group Research

The purpose of this research was to explore notions of task aversiveness across stages of personal projects. 95 female and 66 male undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology class completed Personal Projects Analysis (PPA; Little, 1983 [Personal projects: a rationale and method for investigation. Environment and Behaviour , 15 , 273–309]). Based on theories of action proposed by Little, 1983 , Gollwitzer, 1990 [Gollwitzer, P. M. (1990). The volitional benefits from planning. In P. M. Gollwitzer & J. A. Bargh, The psychology of action: linking cognition and motivation to behaviour (pp. 287–312). New York: Guilford Press], respondents’ projects were sorted into four broad stages: inception, planning, action and termination. Principal components analysis (PCA) revealed that boredom, frustration and resentment emerge as PPA dimensions associated with task aversiveness at each stage of project development. Personal meaning, autonomy, structure, stress and negative emotions were also found to be related to task aversiveness, but these aspects of aversiveness varied across the stages of project development. As hypothesized, each principal component identified with task aversiveness was found to be positively related with procrastination. These findings are discussed in terms of previous research in the area of procrastination and Kuhl's theory of action [ Kuhl, J. (1987) . Action control: the maintenance of motivational states. In F. Halisch & J. Kuhl, Motivation, intention and volition (pp. 279–291). New York: Springer-Verlag.; Kuhl, J. (1994) . A theory of action and state orientations. In J. Kuhl & J. Beckman, Volition and personality: action versus state orientation (pp. 9–46). Toronto: Hogrefe & Huber].

Abstract The study investigated the personality profiles that emerge from dichotomizing subjects on two axes: (1) high vs low procrastination in handling the routines of daily living; and (2) high vs low manifest emotional upset experienced with reference to those routine tasks on which they, in fact, procrastinate. Anticipatory emotional upset was also investigated. It referred to the upset that would be experienced if subjects were to procrastinate on routine tasks that are, in fact, performed promptly and efficiently. The two kinds of emotional upset were found to be moderately intercorrelated and were weakly, if at all, correlated with procrastination. Profile analysis placed 99 of 164 Israeli engineering students in four groups approximating the four hypothesized procrastination-emotional upset types. Groups high in procrastination tended to be higher than groups low in procrastination on three hypothesized antecedents of procrastination: anxiety, the repressor/sensitizer construct, and pessimism. People who do not procrastinate as a rule, but are high in manifest upset when they do, were found to be lowest on these personality measures. The reverse was found for people high in procrastination. It was concluded that the three personality measures presumed to contribute to procrastination are adversely affected by the high frequency of emotional upset about procrastination experienced by those who procrastinate a great deal in handling life routines.

This study examined, we believe for the first time, the relationship between hope and academic procrastination. One hundred and sixteen graduate students enrolled in an introductory-level educational research course at a mid-southern university were administered the Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students (PASS), and the Adult Hope Scale that operationalizes hope as a reciprocal combination of pathways and agency thinking. Findings suggest that both hope factors helped predict academic procrastination with respect to fear of failure, but not task aversiveness. Suggestions for a deeper understanding of the role of hope in mitigating procrastination are offered.

The purpose of this study was to develop a self-report measure of procrastination tendencies and to investigate its relationship to a behavioral measure of procrastination and to a self-report measure of general self-efficacy. In a pilot study, the 72-item scale in a 4-point Likert-type response format was developed and administered to 50 college juniors and seniors. A factor analysis of the results yielded two factors which formed the basis for reducing the scale to 35 items with a resulting reliability of .90. The relationship between scores on the 35-item instrument and performance on a self-regulated performance task called the Voluntary Homework System (VHS) yielded a correlation of -.54, and a coefficient of -.47 was observed between the 35-item scale and the General Self-Efficacy Test (GSE; both correlations of p < .001). The correlation between GSE and VHS scores was .29 ( p < .05). In a subsequent study of 183 college students, a factor analysis of scores on the 35-item scale yielded a single-factor structure and a condensed scale of 16 items with a reliability of .86. This shortened version of the procrastination scale was recommended for use as a means of detecting students who may tend to procrastinate in the completion of college requirements.

This article responds to recent calls for greater clarity and transparency regarding methods in qualitative research. On the basis of a 3-year ethnographic study of the overrepresentation of minorities in special education, the authors address key tenets of grounded theory and attempt to reconcile some of the methodological challenges inherent in naturalistic inquiry. They discuss theoretical considerations and use a visual model to illustrate how they applied grounded theory to this complex and sensitive topic. Emphasizing the social nature of decision making in special education, the authors point to the appropriateness of qualitative methods to the investigation of such issues.

Human beings can be proactive and engaged or, alternatively, passive and alienated, largely as a function of the social conditions in which they develop and function. Accordingly, research guided by self-determination theory has focused on the social-contextual conditions that facilitate versus forestall the natural processes of self-motivation and healthy psychological development. Specifically, factors have been examined that enhance versus undermine intrinsic motivation, self-regulation, and well-being. The findings have led to the postulate of three innate psychological needs--competence, autonomy, and relatedness--which when satisfied yield enhanced self-motivation and mental health and when thwarted lead to diminished motivation and well-being. Also considered is the significance of these psychological needs and processes within domains such as health care, education, work, sport, religion, and psychotherapy.

In a sample of college students (38 men and 66 women) academic procrastination was predicted by concerns about negative evaluation, low personal standards for achievement, beliefs that outcomes are due to personal efforts, and participation in learning for reasons other than grades or evaluation by others.

Alfie Kohn challenges our reliance on carrot-and-stick psychology in Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes. This is an intriguing indictment of rewards at work, at school, and at home. Do this and you'll get that, (Kohn, 1993, p. 3) summarizes the prevailing strategy for managing workers, teaching students, and raising children. Kohn contends that managers, teachers, and parents dangle goodies, from candy bars to sales commissions, in front of people in the same way a pet is trained.

Procrastination is variously described as harmful, innocuous, or even beneficial Two longitudinal studies examined procrastination among students Procrastinators reported lower stress and less illness than nonprocrastinators early in the semester, but they reported higher stress and more illness late in the term, and overall they were sicker Procrastinators also received lower grades on all assignments Procrastination thus appears to be a self-defeating behavior pattern marked by short-term benefits and long-term costs

This study examined individual differences associated with measures of academic procrastination, perfectionism, control, and vigilant and avoidant coping using a sample of 157 undergraduates. Results indicated that a positive relationship exists between perfectionism and vigilant coping, and that procrastinators do not tend to exhibit avoidant coping. Interestingly, issues of control were positively associated with avoidant coping. Overall, the findings suggest that procrastination, perfectionism, and control play a significant role in the employment of these coping styles. The purpose of this study was to provide a better understanding of procrastination, perfectionism, and control—behaviors and coping styles that appear to be functionally related to vigilant and avoidant coping styles. Procrastination, perfectionism, and control have recently been the focus of extensive research (Ferrari & Mautz, 1997; Paulhus & Van Selst, 1990; Terry-Short, Owens, Slade & Dewey, 1995; Tice & Baumeister, 1997). Krohne (1989, 1993) has proposed a comprehensive model of coping styles, identifying behaviors that appear to share common characteristics with the traits of procrastination, perfectionism, and control. While relationships have been identified between procrastination and perfectionism (Ferrari, 1992; Flett, Hewitt, & Martin, 1995), many individual differences associated with procrastination, perfectionism, control, and possible links with coping styles remain to be studied. Vigilant coping is prompted by situations possessing a high degree of uncertainty, stress, and anxiety (Krohne, 1993; Miller, 1996). In such