The correlation between perfectionism and procrastination in students

The word procrastination comes from the Latin words pro -— “in front” and crastinus — “tomorrow”. Lay defines procrastination as “voluntary, irrational postponement of planned actions, despite the fact that it will cost dearly or have a negative effect on a person” [1]. The key features of the phenomenon include the combination of behavioral irrationality with awareness and understanding of the negative consequences [2]. Procrastination is manifested in almost all spheres of human activity, and the relevance of studying the factors of procrastination is determined by the extreme prevalence of the above-described phenomenon. According to American researchers, from 46% to 95% of students are procrastinators [3].

In addition to situational factors of procrastination (unattractiveness of the task, a large amount of time), scientists regard perfectionism as an individual psychological determinant of procrastination [4, с. 201-212]. By perfectionism modern science understands psychological characteristics, which include high requirements imposed by the person on himself, on his activities, on other people and on the world as a whole [5, с. 379–386]. Both domestic and foreign authors connect perfectionism with constant emotional discomfort, interpersonal problems, and impaired adaptation. However, with regard to the relationship between perfectionism and procrastination, the opinions of researchers on this subject differ. Accordingly, Kholmogorova and Garanian detected a tendency towards a positive relationship between procrastination and perfectionism [6], whereas an English psychologist Neil Fiore refutes the assertion about the relationship between perfectionism and procrastination. He argues that perfectionists postpone matters much less frequently than other people [7]. Socially prescribed perfectionism is positively correlated with academic procrastination [8], and self-oriented perfectionism is believed to have no connection with procrastination or negative correlation with procrastination [9].

The results of the Philippine Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Education showed only performance and goal orientation avoidance act as mediators between the effects of perfectionism on procrastination [10]. In his research of the correlation between perfectionism and procrastination, Wang Likun found that non-adaptivity, i.e., negative perfectionism, is positively related to procrastination. Zhao Yuli obtained similar results in the investigation of academic procrastination of college students. On the contrary, Zhang Jinkun established that perfectionism was significantly negatively correlated with academic procrastination [11]. We suggested that these contradictions may be stipulated by the fact that perfectionism is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon.

Research hypothesis

The main hypothesis of the study is the assumption that there is a connection between the general level of procrastination and the individual components of perfectionism, as well as the dependence of procrastination on the typology of perfectionism.

Current research

The aim of the study is to study the relationship between the components of perfectionism and procrastination in Russian students. In our study, we used the General Procrastination Scale (Lay, 1986), which describes avoidance behavior in situations typical of educational activities, and the Perfectionism Questionnaire (Garanian and Holmogorova, 1998) [3] to test the following components of perfectionism:

• •    personalization, i.e. “perception of others as delegating high expectations " (the subjective feeling that other people expect a lot from the respondents);

• •    “inflated self-claims and demands” – (propensity to set far-reaching goals and objectives;

• •    high standards of one’s activity targeting the most successful people through jealous comparison with others;

• •    dichotomous assessment of the work according to the ‘win or lose’ principle (polarized thinking);

• •    selection of information about own failures and mistakes (negative selection).

The Lay’s General Procrastination Scale includes statements regarding the postponement practices in various circumstances (Table 1). A 5-point Likert scale is proposed as a response scale.

Table 1. The General Procrastination Scale (Lay, 1986)

The text of the Perfectionism Questionnaire by Garanian and Kholmogorova is presented in Table 2.

Table 2. The Perfectionism Questionnaire (Garanian, Kholmogorova, 1998)

The analysis of the data obtained has shown that the respondents overestimate the requirements for other people while simultaneously increasing their own level of procrastination, which allows them to consider the current situation as a form of evasion from the stress reaction and stress due to their own inconsistency with the requirements that they themselves make to others. The growth of self-requirements is not associated with the growth of procrastination, which allows perfectionism to be considered as an adaptive form of striving for perfection.

Results and discussion

According to the study, it can be argued that the respondents have a significant connection between procrastination and socially prescribed perfectionism. This is explained by the fact that socially prescribed perfectionism is interpreted as impeccability imposed by others, therefore, the surrounding people rather strictly assess the subjects and encourage them to be the best. The respondents find it difficult or almost impossible to meet the expectations of others. As a result, they postpone training activities because out fear for being rejected or misunderstood by others. This situation provokes procrastination, and the respondents tend to postpone their educational duties for some time.

Conclusion

Perfectionism and procrastination are interrelated phenomena, which is confirmed by the presence of connections. The analysis of the revealed connections shows that people with the social components of perfectionism are most susceptible to procrastination: they try to meet the expectations of other people, perceive others as increased demands on them. They try to create an image of a person with an impeccable reputation, social competence, and success in society.