Self-regulation and procrastination in college students: A tale of motivation, strategy, and perseverance

Procrastination is a delay in an intended course of action and, thus, a self-regulation failure hindering growth and well-being. Contrarily, self-regulation is a set of cognitive and metacognitive skills and strategies supporting goal-directed behavior. There is ongoing discussion regarding the extent to which (and the ways in which) promoting self-regulation may counteract procrastination. On the one hand, it is argued that procrastination is linked with stable personal dispositions; on the other hand, it is said that this problematic behavior is associated with contextual influences. To deepen the understanding of these relationships, we used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test a theory-driven model integrating four self-regulation factors (goal setting, decision making, persevering, and learning from mistakes) and two measures of procrastination (irrational and academic). We hypothesized that goal setting, decision making, and perseverance would sequentially mediate between learning from mistakes and procrastination outcomes, thus, suggesting that cognitive-motivational (learning from mistakes, goal setting), strategic (decision making), and volitional (perseverance) factors may all be necessary for successful self-regulation, which could potentially be promoted by contextual influences. Participants of the present study were 433 Chilean university students (304 women, 129 men, M = 20.74 years, SD = 2.86) who completed measures for procrastination and self-regulation. Findings support the important roles of goal setting and perseverance for successful self-regulation and suggest that goal setting may mediate the effects of learning from mistakes on perseverance and decision making; whereas perseverance may mediate the effects of goal setting and decision making on procrastination variations. These results suggest that the negative effects of motivational and strategic factors of self-regulation on procrastination may depend at least partly on the abilities to improve goals and persevere. Taking into account these critical roles in dealing with procrastination, it seems appropriate to support college students' self-regulation skills and strategies, raising awareness about the indispensability of adequate goal setting and persistence in following through with intended courses of action. Student procrastination reflects failed behavioral self-regulation.Motivation, strategy, and implementation are required to avoid procrastination.Teachers must provide ongoing support for goals, decisions, and perseverance.