Do Students’ Beliefs and Behaviors Differ Across Classes? Data Analytic Strategy: run paired-sample t tests to compare students’ reported academic beliefs and behaviors in classes where they reported engaging in academically productive procrastination the most and least. Academically productive procrastination is common among college students Participants differed in all measured academic beliefs and behaviors across classes with the most and least academically productive procrastination, Academically productive procrastination has important correlates with respect to academic beliefs and behavior Procrastination is rampant among college students, with 80-95% of students reporting frequent procrastination (Ellis & Knaus, 1977; Soloman & Rothblum, 1984) Classic conceptualizations of procrastination characterize it as a unidimensional construct (Ferrari, 1993; Steel, 2007) However, recent work has challenged this assumption and has identified qualitatively distinct forms of procrastination (Bernstein, 1998; Chu & Choi, 2005; Shraw et al., 2007) Another form of procrastination worth exploring is academically productive procrastination (Wormington et al., 2011) Academically productive procrastination: the tendency to put off difficult academic tasks by working on easier academic tasks instead Fairly commonly reported among college students (Westgate, Wormington, Oleson, & Lindgren, in preparation) Often associated with less maladaptive outcomes than classic forms of procrastination, including higher grades and lower rates of problematic drinking To date, researchers have not adequately examined the academic correlates of academically productive procrastination Academic motivation is a particularly important precursor of procrastination to consider (e.g., expectancies for success and perceived value; Eccles et al., 1983; Wolter, 2003) Table 2 Differences in Most versus Least Procrastination Classes Background Table 1 Profile Adaptiveness Across Academic Outcomes Method Participants and Procedure 83 undergraduate students from a small liberal arts school in the Northwest 71% female (2 neutral, non binary) 34% 1 st year, 32% 2 nd year, 18% 3 rd year, 16% 4 th year Major: 36% Math/Science, 15% Social Sciences, 11% Literature/Languages, 3% Arts, 14% Philosophy/Psychology, 9% Undeclared Participants filled out all self-report measures (for most and least procrastination classes) in an online anonymous survey Which Classes Do Students Academically Procrastinate in? Current Study Document the academic correlates of academically productive procrastination Proposed Model Undergraduates identified classes in which they engaged or did not engage in academically productive procrastination (i.e., tendency to put off difficult academic tasks by working on easier academic tasks). Students were less engaged, less motivated, and less certain of their ability in the classes in which they engaged in the most academically productive procrastination. Figure 1 Classes with Most Academically Productive Procrastination Academic Beliefs (i.e., motivation, self-beliefs) Academically Productive Procrastination Academic Behaviors (e.g., class engagement) Labeling Profiles Labels based on raw scores for cluster centroids (converted to 5-point scale) Iterative, qualitative process led to formalized naming rules Considered both absolute value and ratio of goals to one another Naming Rules Identify highest or lowest goal High goal: value greater than 4; Low goal: value less than 2 Identify all other high or low goals Value closer to highest/lowest goal than to scale midpoint Consider absolute value of goal endorsement Assign label based on constellation of goals endorsed Compare similar profiles and collapse for profile types Profiles consistent with mastery and multiple goal pursuit were fairly common Two groups endorsed multiple goal pursuit: Approach High and High All Goals Approach High almost twice as common as High All Goals Largest group of participants reported average levels of all goals Participants rarely endorsed performance goals alone All other profile types characterized by low goal endorsement Stephanie V. Wormington 1, Erin C. Westgate 2, & Kathryn C. Oleson 3 1 Duke University, 2 University of Virginia, 3 Reed College Stephanie V. Wormington 1, Erin C. Westgate 2, & Kathryn C. Oleson 3 1 Duke University, 2 University of Virginia, 3 Reed College Academically Productive Procrastination: Links to Unique Motivations and Academic Consequences Abstract Purpose Challenge the assumption that procrastination is a unidimensional construct by: Measuring a form of academically-productive procrastination Examining its associations with academic beliefs and behaviors Note: all items aside from academically productive procrastination measured using a 5 point Likert-type scale. Participants to responded to all questions separately for classes in which they reported the most and least academically productive procrastination. Note: * p <.05, ** p <.01, *** p <.0001 Summary Questions? Contact Stephanie Wormington at Overall, students reported engaging in a fair amount of academically productive procrastination (M = 3.43, SD = 0.91) As expected, there was a high amount of reported procrastination in class with the most academically productive procrastination (M = 3.46, SD = 1.20) As expected, there were fairly low levels of procrastination reported in the class with the least academically productive procrastination (M = 2.11, SD = 1.14) When faced with a difficult academic task, students report using academically productive procrastination as a strategy 73% of the time Do Students Report Using Academically Productive Procrastination? Math and social studies courses were by far the most commonly reported classes for procrastination (especially Biology and Chemistry)