Middle East Technical University, Turkey 1 Comparison of High School, Undergraduate and Graduate Students on their Procrastination Prevalence and Reasons By Bilge Uzun Ozer Middle East Technical University

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 2 Every person has task to perform, but for one reason or another, completion of these task is often postponed. The general propensity to engage in such dilatory behavior is called procrastination. In their academic settings, students have such tasks as –writing term papers, –studying for exams, –reading weekly assignments, –academic administrative tasks, –attending tasks and/or –school activities in general. Being postponed of an academic task to another indefinite time is called academic procrastination. procrastination? academic procrastination? What is

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 3 Undergraduates 70% of college students more often when writing term papers (46%) than reading weekly assignments (30%) studying for examinations (28%) Graduates Significant problem more often when weekly reading assignments (60%) than writing a term paper (42%) studying for examinations (39%) High School Stds Significant problem No sytematic study conducted on procrastination prevalence Prevalence HS? UG? GR?

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 4 Undergraduates Fear of Failure & Task Aversiveness Graduates Perfectionism High School Stds Test Anxiety Reasons HS? UG? GR?

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 5 UNDERGRADUATE GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL COMPARISON? Significance

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 6 Hence, the present research attempts to expand the earlier focus by looking at the levels, prevalence and the reasons for academic procrastination on high school, undergraduate and graduate students Purpose

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 7 UNDERGRADUATE GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL Method Participants Total of 447 students (247 female, 200 male) Average age = 20.4 (SD = 4.5, R = 15-32) 149 (83 female, 66 male) M = 15.5, SD =.56 R = (80 female, 70 male) M = 20.4, SD = 1.71 R = (84 female, 64 male) M = 25.5, SD = 2.32 R = 22-32

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 8 Method Data Collection Instrument The Procrastination Assessment Scale-Student Part1 Prevalence of Procrastination 18 items 6 areas of academic functioning: Writing a term paper Studying for an exam Reading weekly assignments Academic administrative task Attandance task School activities in general Part2 Reasons of Procrastination 26 items List a variety of 13 possible reasons; Evaluation anxiety Perfectionism Difficulty in making decision Dependency and help seeking Aversiveness of task Lack of self confidence Laziness Lack of assertion Fear of success Rebellion against control Risk taking Tendency to feel overwhelmed and poorly manage time Peer influence

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 9 High School n = 149 Undergraduate n = 150 Graduate n = 148 GenderNon-procrastinatorProcrastinator No Sign. Diff. 47% 47%. 61% 53% 39% No Sign. Diff. No Sign. Diff. Mean (SD) 17.2 (4.3) 20.2 (3.8) Results Frequency of Procrastination

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 10 High School Undergraduate Graduate Reading AssignmentsStudying for ExamWriting Term Paper 32% 56% 38%. 39% 27% 47% 40% 30% 52% Results Prevalence of Procrastination

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 11 High SchoolUndergraduate Graduate Perfectionism Rebellion against control Risk Taking Results Reasons of Procrastination Laziness Lack of Assertion Aversiveness of Task Fear of Failure Risk Taking Laziness

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 12 High School n = 149 Undergraduate n = 150 Graduate n = 148 GenderNon-procrastinatorProcrastinator No Sign. Diff. 47% 47%. 61% 53% 39% No Sign. Diff. No Sign. Diff. Mean (SD) 17.2 (4.3) 20.2 (3.8) 18.5 (4.5) Results Comparison

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 13 The purpose of the present research was to assess the difference among… Turkish version of Procrastination Assessment Scale-Student… The results of the descriptive statistics performed on each group showed that the undergraduates are the highest procrastinating group… …and the high school participants procrastinate less than the other two groups of students …finding revealed no gender difference on procrastination levels… Discussion

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 14...prevalence of procrastination among three groups was assessed on three areas of academic functioning… …while high school and undergraduate participants procrastinated more when studying for an exam, graduates procrastinated writing term paper… …students procrastinates the tasks that might have greatest impact on their academic performance… …that “this task is likely to be viewed as most important by students”… Discussion

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 15 The reason why students procrastinate was also evaluated as one of the aims of the present research.… …high school students engaged in academic procrastination due to their perfectionism tendencies, reason of rebellion against control, taking the risk and their laziness … undergraduates which are the highest procrastinating group engaged frequently in procrastination for the reason of lack of assertion and aversiveness of task … …Graduate participants reported to be procrastinator due to their fearing of failure and taking the risk … …the present findings showed similarity to previous findings regarding the reasons of procrastination … Discussion

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 16 … random selection would strengthen the findings of the study.… …reasons of academic procrastination were assessed by using the second part of the PASS … further research involving diverse samples within demographical and psychological variables might provide the actual results … Limitations & Suggestions

Middle East Technical University, Turkey 17 Bilge Uzun Ozer