Which gender procrastinates more

Table 2 shows the comparisons of mean scores in the GPS-K in different sociodemographic groups. There were no overall differences in sex or education not presented. Participants living in a partnership scored significantly lower on the GPS-K than singles. Students and unemployed participants reported higher levels of procrastination compared to employed and retired individuals. Participants with a high self-assessed tendency to procrastinate reported significantly lower incomes. Fig 1 presents procrastination scores across the entire life span, separately for men and for women.

Post hoc analysis revealed that procrastination was highest in the youngest group 14 to 29 years declining across the older age groups. Age group 14—29 yrs. As Table 3 shows, all correlations were in the direction hypothesized and of low to moderate magnitude.

Procrastination was most strongly associated with perceived stress followed by depression anxiety and fatigue. The association with overall life satisfaction was negative. Moderate associations were found between depression, anxiety and fatigue and between perceived stress and depression and anxiety. Moderate to strong and consistent negative correlations were found between life satisfaction, depression, and anxiety.

Note : Adjusted R 2. Unlike most previous studies on procrastination, we conducted a representative community survey covering a broad spectrum of mental health characteristics and life domains across the entire life span from 14 to 94 years. As hypothesized and consistent with previous studies, procrastination was highest in the youngest cohort 14—29 years.

We have not found a consistent sex effect, however, only in the youngest and most strongly procrastinating group from 14—29 years, men procrastinated more than women. Previously inconsistent findings on sex effects may have been due to different age compositions in different samples. Procrastinating was higher among singles, in unemployed vs employed and on pension , and students.

Cleary, procrastination, as we assessed it, was associated with a high level of perceived stress, depressiveness, anxiety, fatigue and reduced life satisfaction across a whole range of domains work, leisure time etc. In a multiple regression model, in addition to age and sex, lack of a partnership was a predictor of procrastination, along with unemployment, depression, perceived stress and fatigue. How can the negative association of procrastination and age be explained?

Several reasons can be hypothesized regarding the development of personality, time perception, coping styles over the life span, and cohort effects:. As reported by McCrae et al. According to the maturity principle [ 33 ] conscientiousness is essential for successfully achieving development tasks like assuming responsibilities of adult work and family life. Indeed, looking more closely at the youngest age group, participants undergoing education or vocational training procrastinated more than their working peers.

This is an important finding as many studies on procrastination were based solely on student samples. As the high procrastination among unemployed may indicate, work schedules may provide a structure of time and demand counteracting procrastination, whereas less structured educational programs may require more active scheduling by the student or trainee leaving more opportunities for procrastination.

A further explanation for our finding might be that older adults use more effective and content specific problem solving strategies than young adults [ 34 ] leading to less procrastination compared to less appropriate strategies e.

Moreover, the perception of time might chance across the life span influencing the association between procrastination and age: According to Socioemotional Selectivity Theory [ 36 ] older adults perceive time as limited in contrast to younger adults, who may perceive more options, choices and chances available in their future. Interestingly, in a recent study 85 students were given a restricted time window for studying for a forthcoming exam.

The restriction of available working time increased the learning efficiency and significantly reduced the tendency to procrastinate [ 37 ].

If time is perceived as more valuable and scare, individuals may use the available time by implementing instead of postponing actions.

There also has been evidence that non-procrastinators tended to perceive their use of time to be more purposive and they showed higher levels in time control [ 1 ].

There may also be cohort effects, e,g. Compared to the older ones, the younger cohorts have grown up in a climate of economic and educational affluence and stability offering an increasing range of vocational and life style chances. While choice is considered as pivotal for autonomy and psychological well-being in Western countries, choice overload can induce negative outcomes like paralysis and poor decision-making [ 38 ; 39 ]. Likewise, in our psychotherapeutic practice we have been observing that the variety of options can be challenging for young people suffering from mental illnesses who tend to procrastinate c.

This clinical observation is in accord with previous evidence suggesting that individuals with a less developed ego identity status e. Moreover, in recent years, the internet has become an integral part of everyday life and is widely used in working and educational environments. Online activities providing constant distractions from scheduled tasks may encourage procrastination and can even considered as a key aspect of problematic internet use, a phenomenon which affects mainly the young generation [ 43 ; 44 ].

Consistent with previous studies, we found pervasive negative associations of procrastination with successful mastery in virtually all life domains. Deliberately postponing actions can create a high level of discomfort and distress e. These associations underscore the convergent and discriminant validity of the short scale of the GPS used.

Yet, in a cross-sectional study, causality cannot be determined. On the other hand, depression, anxiety and fatigue may induce procrastination. Indecisiveness is a core criterion of depression. Avoidance of tackling demands out of a fear of failure is one of the hallmarks of the major anxiety disorders, which may finally compromise vocational achievement. On the other hand, prolonged unemployment may lead to reduced mental health and self-efficacy promoting procrastination.

Data were limited to self-report. Therefore the findings of the study can be considered valid for self-assessed procrastination, however, not necessarily to observable procrastinating behavior [ 6 ]. We currently have no clearly defined cut-off score of the General Procrastination Scale.

While our sample was representative of the German community, we cannot preclude that people with an extreme level of procrastination may have not participated due to a lack of intrinsic motivation for action [ 46 ]. Overall, our data supported the conceptualization of procrastination as a maladaptive self-regulatory strategy. The connection between distress and procrastination in this study has important implications for identifying risk groups, who may also delay necessary medical, particularly mental health treatment [ 9 ; 12 ].

In further analysis we will focus on the association between procrastination and media use in adolescents and young adults which might be a major distraction, particularly for those who do not have a regular work schedule like students and unemployed. As discussed earlier, future studies exploring the possible mediating role of identity status in different age groups not only in emerging adulthood are required to develop a deeper understanding of the relation between procrastination and age.

Given the broad negative associations of procrastination with vocational success and interpersonal integration, stress and distress, prospective studies are needed to determine developmental trajectories, identifying risk factors and mechanism of procrastination. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. PLoS One. Published online Feb Manfred E. Eva M. Kai W. Ulrich S Tran, Editor. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Received Jan 19; Accepted Jan This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

Abstract Addressing the lack of population-based data the purpose of this representative study was to assess procrastination and its associations with distress and life satisfaction across the life span. Introduction Procrastination, putting off intended action, is a universal phenomenon, which may be employed for many reasons e.

Method Participants The present study was based on a representative survey of the German population. Table 1 Distribution of socio-demographic characteristics in the German population and in the present sample.

Open in a separate window. Ethics statement The study and procedure, including the consent procedure, were approved by the institutional ethics review board of the University of Leipzig Az Results Procrastination according to sociodemographic characteristics Table 2 shows the comparisons of mean scores in the GPS-K in different sociodemographic groups. Table 2 Procrastination in the general population according to demographic characteristics. N M SD Sig. Note : Missing data:.

Procrastination across the life span Fig 1 presents procrastination scores across the entire life span, separately for men and for women. Fig 1. Procrastination scores across the life span according to sex. Associations of procrastination with distress, perceived stress and life satisfaction As Table 3 shows, all correlations were in the direction hypothesized and of low to moderate magnitude.

Table 4 Predictors of procrastination. Discussion Unlike most previous studies on procrastination, we conducted a representative community survey covering a broad spectrum of mental health characteristics and life domains across the entire life span from 14 to 94 years. Several reasons can be hypothesized regarding the development of personality, time perception, coping styles over the life span, and cohort effects: As reported by McCrae et al.

Funding Statement The authors have no support or funding to report. Data Availability All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. References 1. Rethinking procrastination: Positive effects of" active" procrastination behavior on attitudes and performance.

The Journal of Social Psychology. Steel P. The nature of procrastination: a meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological bulletin. Klingsieck KB. European Psychologist. Ferrari JR. A mega-trial investigation of goal setting, interest enhancement, and energy on procrastination. Personality and individual differences.

Procrastination and personality, performance, and mood. Current Psychology. International Journal of Selection and Assessment. Sirois FM. Personality and Individual Differences. Is procrastination a vulnerability factor for hypertension and cardiovascular disease? Testing an extension of the procrastination-health model.

Journal of Behavioral Medicine. Rozental A, Carlbring P. Steel P, Ferrari J. Sex, education and procrastination: an epidemiological study of procrastinators' characteristics from a global sample. European Journal of Personality. Comprehensive psychiatry. Lay CH. At last, my research article on procrastination. Journal of research in personality. Klingsieck KB, Fries S. Schwarzer R, Jerusalem M. Measures in health psychology: A user's portfolio.

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