6.8 Reasons for Procrastination: Low Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is defined as:
people’s judgment of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performance. It is not concerned with the skills that one has, but with the judgments of what one can do with whatever skills one possesses. (Bandura, 1986, p. 391)
Research shows self-efficacy to be a strong predictor of performance in sports, business, and academic settings. For college students, self-efficacy is correlated to academic performance and has an inverse relationship with procrastination (Pajares, 1996; Wolters, 2003; Haycock et al., 1998). Self-efficacy is also correlated to perfectionism (Mills & Blankstein, 2000) with one explanation being that perfectionists might compromise their level of self-efficacy by setting unrealistic goals and expectations. Thus, strategies designed to combat maladaptive perfectionism might come in handy with low self-efficacy as well.
Perfectionism, though complex, can be summarized as having extremely high standards for one’s self or others and valuing excellence. Perfectionism is associated with an increased risk for depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and eating disorders, as well as higher levels of distress (Ranieri et al., 1987; Rasmussen & Eisen; Rosen et al., 1989; Flett et al., 1989). Other research indicates a direct link between perfectionism and poorer physical health in college students (Hadjistavropoulos et al., 2007) and adults in general (Molnar et al., 2012).
Student Perspectives: What is Perfectionism?
Self-efficacy is typically domain-specific, meaning someone can have high self-efficacy regarding their abilities in one area of their life and low self-efficacy in their abilities in another area. For example, someone might have high self-efficacy when it comes to implementing a change around physical activity and low self-efficacy around making changes to their nutritional habits. Generalized self-efficacy is a culmination of a person’s past successes and failures across a wide variety of situations; this record of successes and failures informs a person’s overall expectations around whether they might achieve mastery in an initially unfamiliar situation.
Self-regulation can be defined as our ways of knowing when to initiate, maintain, or terminate actions around a goal. Much research has been done around procrastination being a “failure to self-regulate” during times of stress or high cognitive load (Ferrari, 2000). Therefore, an individual’s self-efficacy for self-regulation is a reflection of their belief in their abilities to use a variety of strategies, resist distractions, and complete tasks. Researchers found that self-efficacy for self-regulation was a stronger predictor of procrastination compared to self-regulation alone, academic self-efficacy alone, or self-esteem (Klassen et al., 2008). Boosting self-efficacy around self-regulation behaviors may help prevent procrastination. Therefore, continually attempting to beat procrastination with various strategies can help combat procrastination long-term.
Self-Assess Your Understanding
- Define self-efficacy and self-regulation.
"People’s judgment of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performance. It is not concerned with the skills that one has, but with the judgments of what one can do with whatever skills one possesses." (Bandura, 1986, p. 391)
Having extremely high standards for one’s self or others and valuing excellence.
Our ways of knowing when to initiate, maintain, or terminate actions around a goal.
A reflection of a person's belief in their abilities to use a variety of strategies, resist distractions, and complete tasks.
