Academic Procrastination: The Relationship between Causal Attribution Styles and Behavioral Postponement

Objective: This research was conducted to study the relationship between attribution and academic procrastination in University Students.

Methods: The subjects were 203 undergraduate students, 55 males and 148 females, selected from English and French language and literature students of Tabriz University. Data were gathered through Procrastination Assessment Scale-student (PASS) and Causal Dimension Scale (CDA) and were analyzed by multiple regression analysis (stepwise).

Results: The results showed that there was a meaningful and negative relation between the locus of control and controllability in success context and academic procrastination. Besides, a meaningful and positive relation was observed between the locus of control and stability in failure context and procrastination. It was also found that 17% of the variance of procrastination was accounted by linear combination of attributions.

Conclusion: We believe that causal attribution is a key in understanding procrastination in academic settings and is used by those who have the knowledge of Causal Attribution styles to organize their learning.

Declaration of Interest: None.

Citation: Badri Gargari R, Sabouri H, Norzad F. Academic procrastination: The relationship between causal attribution styles and behavioral postponement. Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci 2011; 5(2): 76-82.