Content Analyses of the Beliefs of Academic Procrastinators

Although relevant nomothetically-based personality literature has made great advances in recent years correlating traits to
measures of procrastination, little is known about the specific irrational beliefs of procrastinators, especially when they
are actively avoiding tasks or situations. Based on theories from Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), it was hypothesized
that compared to non-procrastinators, college student academic procrastinators would show greater self depreciation, greater
other depreciation, greater life condition depreciation, and a lower frustration tolerance. Academic procrastination was operationally
defined by quartile distributions on two self- report measures and three classroom-based assignments. Procrastinators and
non-procrastinating students were given instructions to write approximately 500 words about their thoughts and feelings while
they were in the process of actively putting off a specific, real event. While actually procrastinating, students logged on
to a web site and made text entries describing what was going through their minds. Data were analyzed with the Psychiatric
Content and Diagnosis Program Version 3 (PCAD 3; Gottschalk and Bechtel in Psychiatric content and diagnosis: the PCAD 3.
GB Software, Brighton, MI, 2007). Procrastinators and non-procrastinators differed on relevant PCAD scales, supporting the hypotheses derived from REBT theory.
Treatment implications and directions for future research are discussed.