We have all procrastinated on a project at some point, and if you haven't then you should be proud. Procrastination is a pretty simple way to get out of doing something temporarily but will often come back and be even more annoying. In a study done in 2016v it was shown that both age and life satisfaction take part on whether you will or will not procrastinate. Unfortunately younger people have a tendency to procrastinate more then older people. The most alarming piece is that people who are experiencing some form of life dissatisfaction like depression, unemployment or fatigue are more likely to procrastinate. This isn't surprising but they also found a correlation going in the other direction as well. People who procrastinate are more likely to feel distressed (Beutel et. al., 2016). This suggests a positive feedback loop and only serves to worsen procrastination.
This data is suggestive of an increased need for mental health support but also points at a way in which to help someone. The first thing to do in this situation is to cut off the loop. Stopping the loop can stop the progression and causation of some of the distress. If someone is constantly putting themselves in situations in which they are feeling rushed and unable to complete work then they are only going to become more self destructive. If you help the person stay on task and finish their work prior to the deadline it may be a way in which the loop can correct itself. The other option is to approach from the other side and provide support for people who need it. Of course the third option is to do both. This article provides good evidence of why depression is extremely hard to deal with alone.
Beutel, M. E., Klein, E. M., Aufenanger, S., Brähler, E., Dreier, M., Müller, K. W., Quiring, O., Reinecke, L., Schmutzer, G., Stark, B., & Wölfling, K. (2016). Procrastination, Distress and Life Satisfaction across the Age Range - A German Representative Community Study. PloS one, 11(2), e0148054. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148054
Hello Chase! Thank you for your post.
ReplyDeleteI found an article on procrastination that shows that it is linked to high impulsivity and a high level of intrusive thoughts (Rebetez et al., 2018). These factors could play an important role in the development of depression and distress that you mentioned in your post. The intrusive thoughts in the article described intrusive thoughts as rumination (pondering on the same thoughts/experiences over extended periods of time) and daydreaming and high impulsivity included lack of perseverance and high urgency. Procrastinators in the experiment experienced all of these in higher frequencies than non-procrastinators (Rebetez et al., 2018).
Procrastination may also look differently than people previously thought. For example, a study on video games and procrastination provided evidence suggesting that there is a minimal correlation between procrastinating and playing video games (Norbdy et al., 2019). However, it was also found that those who played video games to manage stress and escape reality experienced higher levels of procrastination than those who listed their reasons for playing was for entertainment purposes (Norbdy et al., 2019). This provides evidence that procrastination may not only lead to distress or depression, but that distress or depression could be its cause, and that more research should be done on the lives and circumstances of those who procrastinate to gain further understanding of its origins.
Nordby, K., Løkken, R. A., & Pfuhl, G. (2019). Playing a video game is more than mere procrastination. BMC psychology, 7(1), 33. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-019-0309-9
Rebetez, M., Rochat, L., Barsics, C., & Van der Linden, M. (2018). Procrastination as a Self-Regulation Failure: The Role of Impulsivity and Intrusive Thoughts. Psychological reports, 121(1), 26–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294117720695
This is a very interesting topic since I have never thought about the positive impacts of procrastination. While I agree that a positive feedback loop can lead to more procrastination, some people do better academically when under pressure. For those individuals specifically, decreasing procrastination would be detrimental.
ReplyDeleteOne article discusses the difference between passive and active procrastinators. Passive being those whom you are referring to where procrastination has negative impacts on time management and academic success. On the flip slide, active procrastinators work best under pressure and often decide to put themselves in these high-pressure situations. Conclusively, it was found that although active procrastinators procrastinate to the same degree as passive procrastinators, they are more similar to non-procrastinators in terms of efficiency and positive academic outcomes.
Chu, A.H.C., & Choi, J.N. (2010). Rethinking Procrastination: Positive Effects of “Active” Procrastination Behavior on Attitudes and Performance. The Journal of Social Psychology, 145(3), 245-264. https://doi.org/10.3200/SOCP.145.3.245-264