A Brief Survey and Analysis on Procrastination Among Undergrads
A Brief Survey and Analysis on Procrastination among Undergrads
Zhang Zitong
School of Transportation, Tongji University
Abstract
Procrastination is a common phenomenon among undergrad students, especially for those who have just escaped from the strict control of teachers and parents into a university full of temptations. It is very easy to fall behind schedule and find the deadline looming.
Aimed to further understand procrastination among undergrad students, this article concludes and analyzes several typical reasons for students’ procrastination: reluctance with task, too much distraction, poor self-control, and perfectionism. There are also some fairly complex psychological reasons deriving from their procrastination and related to the 4 main reasons mentioned above. The sense of achievement after finishing everything in a rush before deadline, the wrong reward that is intended to stimulate self-discipline but leads to endless entertaining or the vicious circle of low self-esteem created by failure to complete tasks all add to students’ procrastination. We then specially discuss the peer influence on students’ procrastination from different aspects. Peer competition, peer reference and peer pressure are the three major types of peer influence on students’ procrastination, which may either help get rid of or worsen their procrastination.
We therefore recommend students try to solve their procrastination by imposing external control, properly rewarding concentration, actively avoiding distraction and having better time management. We further suggest it can be very helpful to choose the right peer and maximize the influence to help students solve their procrastination.
Table of Contents
Methods 4
Results 5
Discussion 7
Recommendation 9
Acknowledgement 10
References 10
Methods
In this survey, we developed a set of questions asking students in the unit of a dormitory. We asked individual students to assess their degree of procrastination,
Zhang Zitong
School of Transportation, Tongji University
Abstract
Procrastination is a common phenomenon among undergrad students, especially for those who have just escaped from the strict control of teachers and parents into a university full of temptations. It is very easy to fall behind schedule and find the deadline looming.
Aimed to further understand procrastination among undergrad students, this article concludes and analyzes several typical reasons for students’ procrastination: reluctance with task, too much distraction, poor self-control, and perfectionism. There are also some fairly complex psychological reasons deriving from their procrastination and related to the 4 main reasons mentioned above. The sense of achievement after finishing everything in a rush before deadline, the wrong reward that is intended to stimulate self-discipline but leads to endless entertaining or the vicious circle of low self-esteem created by failure to complete tasks all add to students’ procrastination. We then specially discuss the peer influence on students’ procrastination from different aspects. Peer competition, peer reference and peer pressure are the three major types of peer influence on students’ procrastination, which may either help get rid of or worsen their procrastination.
We therefore recommend students try to solve their procrastination by imposing external control, properly rewarding concentration, actively avoiding distraction and having better time management. We further suggest it can be very helpful to choose the right peer and maximize the influence to help students solve their procrastination.
Table of Contents
Methods 4
Results 5
Discussion 7
Recommendation 9
Acknowledgement 10
References 10
Methods
In this survey, we developed a set of questions asking students in the unit of a dormitory. We asked individual students to assess their degree of procrastination,
References: Dan Ariely1 & Klaus Wertenbroch2. PROCRASTINATION, DEADLINES, AND PERFORMANCE: Self-Control by Precommitment. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, VOL. 13, NO. 3, MAY 2002. Jane B. Burka & Lenora M. Yuen. PROCRASTINATION – Why You Do It, What to Do About It NOW.