Topic > Factors that become a reason for procrastination among college students

Procrastination is something that many researches and studies have indicated is on the rise in today's times. Furthermore, studies by Hussain and Sultan (2011) have shown that almost 46%-95% of students enrolled in universities procrastinate while completing their assignments. Through specific studies selected and subsequently mentioned in the section, this article aims to highlight the factors that become a reason for procrastination among university students in Finland and Pakistan. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay First, Edwards (2012) defines procrastination as a contrivance based on a deliberate choice to take part in less essential activities or more enjoyable acts despite them being less urgent, to pointlessly postpone less attractive tasks or more critical. Furthermore, being slow or late in doing something that requires attention in the present period of time due to perhaps unwarranted laziness can also be considered a form of procrastination. Furthermore, Hussain and Sultan (2010) state that procrastination influences college students to delay and postpone their academic work making them irresponsible in nature which leads them to ignore their academic duties. Furthermore, Hussain and Sultan state that procrastination reduces the value and importance of homework as students continue to delay their academic tasks. In addition to this, Hussain and Sultan illustrate the negative consequences of procrastination, such as stress, which affects students' self-efficacy, impulsivity, and organizational behavior. Self-efficacy is an individual's belief in their abilities to be able to provide a certain level of performance achieved as a result of continued success in situations and achievement of tasks over time. It acts as a positive source that helps people feel, think and motivate themselves in a certain way. Furthermore, other reasons that lead to procrastination are team work, lack of commitment, lack of guidance and encouragement, lack of confidence in completing a task alone, social and family problems, lack of motivation and interest, laziness, negative comments from teachers about their work, too much work at the same time to complete resulting in academic stress. Furthermore, Hussain and Sultan argue that students procrastinate when they cannot establish a rhythm to understand how to achieve superior performance within a given period of time. Furthermore, a portion of students seem to be accustomed to delaying their work and some students postpone their academic work as it becomes their habit and later turns into their propensity. It has a negative impact on students' identity, learning and achievement at almost all levels of study and in all subjects. Furthermore, an abnormal state of procrastination makes students unable to manage and resolve them to achieve their academic goals causing them sadness, nervousness and stress. Furthermore, according to Lindblom-Ylänne, Saariaho, Inkinen, Haarala-Muhonen, and Hailikari (2015) the process of procrastination is used to describe distinctive types of procrastination that transition from active to passive procrastination. Passive procrastination involves delaying tasks and assignments until the last moment due to the inability to make the decision to act expediently. Furthermore, postponing the moment chosen to start the study process, moving booked organized study periods to the future and taking part in the study entails atrivial behavior where it affects students' homework as opposed to active procrastination which is exceptionally time-consuming and can finish homework before deadlines and achieve interesting results. Furthermore, a propensity to work under stress is typical of active procrastinators. Additionally, active procrastination is distinct from procrastination in general and should be referred to as “active delay.” Whether an individual is a passive or active procrastinator is influenced by cultural dimensions. The norms and values, which vary greatly from place to place, that individuals are conditioned to grow up with, shape how they tend to lead their lives. Furthermore, Svartdal, Pfuhl, Nordby, Foschi, Klingsieck, Rozental, & Rębkowska, (2016 ) state that procrastination is a common problem in all countries and is defined as a logical and hypothetical revision of a rather essential failure of self-regulation. Furthermore, self-regulation failure is the inability to distinguish between what to prioritize and what could ultimately reap positive results. Many times, students fail to find a balance between work and recreational activities. Since leisure activities are more likely to excite people at this age, they tend to postpone their work. A further contribution to the topic was given by Lindblom-Ylänne, et al. (2015) who argues that it is motivational; the drive to do something, strong-willed; an individual's cognitive process for focusing on something and deciding on the most appropriate and situational ways to accomplish it; depending on a number of circumstances, they are factors that give rise to procrastination in Finland. Low intrinsic inspiration to study, self-control problems, poor time management and beliefs about competence were found to be the main factors driving procrastination in Finland. According to Hofstede (1980) Finland, with its low power distance, is prone to procrastination and influencing time management which affects students' academic performance. Furthermore, Schwartz (2006) argues that egalitarianism forces students to recognize each other as moral in which students act and promote laziness that affects their academic achievement. Besides that, Hofstede (2010) argues that moderate countries like Pakistan are less likely prone to procrastination unlike lenient countries like Finland. Hussain and Sultan (2010) state that in Pakistan students' time management when it came to homework was affected by laziness, lack of accurate prioritization of their work and critical thinking. These indicators caused them to suffer in academic performance as work was not done, remained incomplete, or fell short of the score needed to earn adequate grades. Furthermore, Lindblom-Ylänne, et al. (2015) state that it is extremely important to possess the characteristic of self-control, that is, the observation of one's actions, the use of metacognition and the control of motivational and passionate states. If these essential skills are lacking or if they are created ineffectively, it becomes more difficult for a student to control their intuition, inspiration, actions and feelings, and this absence of control can increase in homework procrastination. Furthermore, self-handicapping includes impeding the effective performance of tasks that the individual views critically. Lindblom-Ylänne, et al. (2015) argues that panic due to disappointment and feeling stressed about the work that needs to be completed in a given period of time could upset individuals and simply push them not to tackle the task.