Procrastination and Academic Performance in University Students
Abstract
Academic procrastination is especially relevant in Higher Education. Its treatment is notable for its complexity due to the multifactorial nature of the reasons or causes that give rise to it. Among the relationships that procrastination establishes with other variables, the present study highlights the one related to academic performance; therefore, considering both variables is interesting regarding the improvement of Higher Education. In this sense, the main aim of this study is to determine whether university students with low levels of procrastination achieve higher academic performance during their education. Thus, the hypothesis focused on examining the relationship between the variables of procrastination and academic performance, assuming that university students with low levels of procrastination would achieve high academic performance, whereas students with high levels of procrastination would demonstrate lower academic achievement. Through a quantitative methodology and accidental non-probability sampling, a validated scale is used to measure these factors, which is applied to 1001 Spanish university students. The results show that students with lower academic performance are the ones who mostly postpone the study process, a positively correlated factor and a predictor of their education. The main conclusion highlights the association between the level of procrastination and academic performance. Consequently, guidance interventions are needed in order to reduce the influence of factors such as procrastination on academic performance.
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References
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