How Conscientiousness and Neuroticism Affect Academic Procrastination

Abstract. We examined students’ procrastinatory behavior in a specific higher-education learning situation in relation to conscientiousness and neuroticism as well as motivational regulation. We hypothesized that conscientiousness would be associated with low levels and favorable trajectories of academic procrastinatory behavior, and neuroticism would be associated with high levels and unfavorable trajectories of procrastinatory behavior. Furthermore, we examined whether motivational regulation mediates these effects. To answer our research questions, we used data from a diary study that spanned a period of 28 days with a total of 3,121 single measurements of 128 university students (mean age = 21.7 years; SD = 2.2; 53 % female). The results of conditional growth curve models indicated that levels of procrastinatory behavior were negatively linked to conscientiousness and positively linked to neuroticism. Motivational regulation mediated the relation between conscientiousness and procrastinatory behavior. No effects on the trajectories of procrastinatory behavior were found. Our findings provide insights into procrastinatory behavior in a specific learning situation and emphasize the functional effects of motivational regulation on academic procrastination.