Relations between Self-Efficacy and Procrastination Types in College Students

The relation of self-efficacy to procrastination was assessed using the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995), Active Procrastination Scale (Chu & Choi, 2005), and items from the General Procrastination Scale (Lay, 1986). Each of 106 college students was assigned a self-efficacy score and multiple procrastination scores. General procrastination was negatively correlated with self-efficacy (p = .001), whereas active procrastination was positively correlated with self-efficacy (p = .02). In domains where students feel more competent, they are more likely to engage in active forms of procrastination rather than maladaptive procrastination. Relations between self-efficacy and different types of procrastination, along with potential mediating motivational factors, are discussed. Potential strategies to identify and target maladaptive procrastination in college students are proposed