The Influence Of Procrastination

Procrastination is purposely delaying a task due to the involvement of another task that is more satisfying or important. This behavior usually leads to negative emotions. Nonprocrastinators are those who perform tasks in a timely manner. Nearly 25% of adults living in the United States and other countries are classified as chronic procrastinators (Ferrari, Barnes, & Steel, 2009). Studies show that procrastination is linked to negatively personality traits, low self-esteem, depression, social anxiety, disorganization, and lack of energy (Ferrari et al., 2009). Some procrastinators delay tasks to seek thrill and some believe they work better under pressure. In this paper I will be examining the factors that influence procrastination. Age, gender, anxiety, education level and personal life is linked to procrastination.

Gender differences have been examined and it is believed that males are more likely than women to procrastinate. Also, procrastination is higher amongst students who are younger than 20 years old. Procrastination levels also differ between college students and university students. University students are less likely to procrastinate because of the high competition in an academic career. Universities demand more work, higher education levels give students a reason to work harder to develop a better career (Khan et al., 2014). A study was conducted that consisted of 200 students, one hundreds male and females. Individuals were between the ages of 16 and 27. Tuckman procrastination scale was used to collect data, which is a 16 item measure concerning academic behavior. The results show that males indeed procrastinate more. Results also found that younger individuals tend to procrastinate more than older individuals. Procrastination decreases as age increases because one has gained experience and becoming mature (Khan et al.,