Influences on and consequences of academic procrastination of first-year student teachers

Academic procrastination is a serious problem among students in higher education. This quantitative study among 238 students focused on the question of how academic attributional style, dispositional optimism, self-efficacy, and self-esteem influence the study results of first-year students in teacher education, and on the mediating role of academic procrastination, understood as a combination of lack of motivation, fear of failure, and dilatory study behavior. Contrary to our expectation, a structural model showed that self-esteem has a direct positive influence on dilatory study behavior and a direct negative influence on study results. Academic attributional style and self-efficacy have an indirect influence on dilatory study behavior through fear of failure and lack of motivation, and thus also an indirect influence on study results. The outcomes of this study clarify important factors influencing academic procrastination and offer building blocks for an approach aimed at remediating academic procrastination.