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 Table of Contents  
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2017  |  Volume : 3  |  Issue : 4  |  Page : 229-234

Structural model of the metacognitive beliefs and effect of self-esteem on academic procrastination among university students


1 Department of Psychology and Educational Science, Lorestan University, Lorestan, Iran
2 Department of Psychology, Lorestan University, Lorestan, Iran

Date of Web Publication9-Feb-2018

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Ezatolah Ghadampour
Department of Psychology, Lorestan University, Lorestan
Iran
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/2395-2296.204125

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  Abstract 


AIMS: The present study was conducted with the purpose of preparing the regression model of academic procrastination among university students based on their metacognitive beliefs and self-esteem.
METHODOLOGY: The present study is a correlational study with a regression modeling. The population included 2062 students, of which a sample of 324 students was selected based on proportional hierarchical sampling based on Cochran's formula. The instruments of the study included Savari academic procrastination scale, Wells' metacognitive scale (Wells, Cartwright-Hatton) and Coopersmith self-esteem scale.
RESULTS: The results indicated that there is a negative and significant relationship between the indexes of self-esteem and academic procrastination. The indexes of metacognitive beliefs had a positive and significant relationship with procrastination. The examination of different indexes indicated the consistency between the model and the data. Moreover, the direct path of self-esteem to procrastination was negative and significant. The results of the study show the significance of the direct role of metacognitive variables in explaining procrastination among the students.
CONCLUSIONS: The person possessing metacognitive skills is a purposeful person who uses time management techniques, meaningful practice to reduce procrastination, and self-esteem enables the student to act efficient and meaningful in assignments to reduce procrastination.

Keywords: Academic procrastination, metacognitive beliefs, self-esteem


How to cite this article:
Ghadampour E, Veiskarami H, Vejdanparast H. Structural model of the metacognitive beliefs and effect of self-esteem on academic procrastination among university students. Int J Educ Psychol Res 2017;3:229-34

How to cite this URL:
Ghadampour E, Veiskarami H, Vejdanparast H. Structural model of the metacognitive beliefs and effect of self-esteem on academic procrastination among university students. Int J Educ Psychol Res [serial online] 2017 [cited 2024 Mar 28];3:229-34. Available from: https://www.ijeprjournal.org/text.asp?2017/3/4/229/204125




  Introduction Top


Procrastination or delaying things to future is so much common that it might be regarded as one of the most natural human desires. Although procrastination is not always problematic, it can often have undesirable and irreparable consequences by preventing progress and unavailability of the goals in defining this structure, referred to laziness and putting off doing important things (rather than doing them in the expected time) along with undesirable mental experiences.[1],[2] Because of its complexities and its cognitive, emotional, and behavioral indexes, procrastination is manifested in different forms including academic procrastination, decisional procrastination, neurotic procrastination, and compulsive procrastination. However, the most common form is academic procrastination.[3],[4],[5],[6],[7],[8]

Rothblum et al. have defined procrastination as the prominent and lasting willingness for delaying academic activities, which is always associated with anxiety. The most familiar example is delaying study until the examination night and the haste and anxiety resulting from it with which the school or university students are involved.[9] On the other hand, the cognitive strategies emphasize the role of illogical beliefs in procrastination.[10] Although these strategies emphasize the role of beliefs and negative views in procrastination, they cannot explain how these beliefs affect the cognitive process of procrastination while the metacognitive strategies to procrastination can explain this process appropriately well. Metacognitive beliefs include the beliefs that the person has about his/her thoughts.[11] The researchers have shown that metacognitive beliefs are correlated with procrastination.[12] In a study, Chu and Chol concluded that the procrastinating students use less metacognitive strategies in doing assignments. Procrastination can be related to metacognition in two ways. First, as a strategy of cognition apparatus and because of its negative effects, procrastination can be noticeable.[13]

Baumeister et al. consider procrastination as a strategy, by which people put aside their negative excitements and experience a better feeling.[14] Moreover, procrastination refers to the ability to control thoughts, emotions, and performance.[15] The results of the study by Sadeghi showed that cognitive reliance, uncontrollability, and threat of thoughts which are among the indexes of metacognitive beliefs were negatively correlated with procrastination, and cognitive self-awareness was negatively correlated with procrastination. In regression analysis, cognitive dependence, cognitive self-awareness, and uncontrollability predict the threat of procrastinate thoughts. The results showed that with a change in cognitive beliefs, procrastination could be reduced.[11]

Moreover, self-esteem has been focused upon as an important factor of explicating procrastination and is related to general self-value judgments.[16] A study by Beswick et al. showed that self-esteem is one of the three possible descriptors of procrastination.[17] Flett et al. believed that the procrastinate people suffered from lower self-esteem and by delaying or avoiding assignment because of their low performance and negative results in assignments, they try to keep their self-esteem.[18] The reason for procrastination among people is their fear of failure and their need for keeping their self-esteem. In other words, procrastination is regarded as self-scoring strategy.[19],[20] Procrastination is related to not only low but also high self-esteem.[21] It has been reported that there is a relationship between high self-esteem and the belief that you can complete your assignments successfully in the shortest possible time. The people who feel that they are superior to the others and need little time for doing their assignments can cause procrastination. The academic procrastinate people delay doing their assignments for maintaining their self-esteem; however, for self-scoring strategy, they make sure that they can look at the others positively.[22] In many studies, a reverse and significant correlation has been found between academic procrastination and self-esteem.[24],[25]

In the present study, the researcher intends to examine the above-mentioned causal relationships and will design an academic procrastination model using metacognitive beliefs and self-esteem and will study its suitability among the students of Farhangian University of Tabriz. Therefore, the main research question of the present study is as follows: Are self-esteem and metacognitive beliefs correlated with procrastination, and do they have a direct causal effect on procrastination?


  Methodology Top


The present study is a correlational study with a regression modeling. The population of the study included all students of Farhangian University of Tabriz who were studying in 2014–2015 academic year in girls' and boys' branches of the university. The population included 2062 students, out of which a sample of 324 students was selected based on proportional hierarchical sampling based on Cochran's formula and considering the sample size common in modeling research types. In this study, for studying the model, Analysis of Moment Structures was used, and for studying the internal reliability of the instruments and the correlation of the variables, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was utilized. For collecting the data, the following instruments were used.

Academic procrastination scale

In the present study, Savari academic procrastination scale was used. It has 12 items consisting of three indexes of “intentional procrastination, procrastination from psychological-physical exhaustion, and procrastination from lack of planning.”[25] Savari reported that the scale has acceptable validity and reliability. The reliability of the whole test in Cronbach's alpha was 0.85; for thefirst factor, the reliability equaled 0.77; for the second factor, the reliability was 0.60, and for the third factor, the reliability was 0.70. In the present study, reliability of the test was obtained by Cronbach's alpha as 0.88; for thefirst factor, the reliability was 0.76; for the second factor, the reliability was 0.80, and for the third factor, the reliability was 0.75. The test validity was determined by correlation with Tuckman's procrastination test and it was calculated as 0.35, indicating relatively high test validity.[25],[26]

Wells' metacognitive scale

Metacognitive belief's questionnaire is a scale that evaluates metacognitive beliefs, judgments, and observatory tendencies. The questionnaire includes five subscales including (1) cognitive contrast, (2) positive beliefs, (3) cognitive self-awareness, (4) uncontrollability and the danger of thoughts (or the negative beliefs about uncontrollability and the threat of thoughts), and (5) need for controlling thoughts.[27] The research reliability in Cronbach's alpha was calculated in the following way: For cognitive contrast, the reliability was 0.68; for positive thoughts, the reliability was 0.78; for cognitive self-awareness, the reliability was 0.71; for uncontrollability and the threat of thoughts, the reliability was 0.67, and for the need for controlling thoughts, the reliability was 0.64.

Coopersmith self-esteem scale

This scale includes 35 items or opinions. The negative and positive statements were scored in reverse. It included four social self-esteem, general, familial, and physical indexes. The Cronbach's alpha was reported by Ebrahimi and Ghavam as 0.82.[28] In the present study, the reliability of the subscales was obtained as 0.70 for social, 0.75 for general, 0.69 for familial, and 0.69 for physical indexes.

Since the researcher has been teaching at Farhangian University, the required permits were obtained from the university to collect the data. After the students had been assigned to each class, the data were collected separately from each class.

For analyzing the data obtained in the present study, AMOS software was used. To describe and analyze the raw data, construct the explicit variables, determine the compatibility of the assumed models with the observed data, and examine the suitability of the model under study, the structural equations model was used.


  Results Top


In the sample students under the study, 54% of the students were male and 46% were female.

According to [Table 1], intentional procrastination has a correlation of 99% with procrastination from physical and mental exhaustion and procrastination from lack of planning. Moreover, positive beliefs have a correlation of 99% with the procrastination from physical and mental exhaustion. Uncontrollability and threat of thoughts have a correlation of 99% with intentional procrastination, procrastination from mental and physical exhaustion, and procrastination from lack of planning. The need to control thoughts has a correlation of 95% with intentional procrastination; it also has a correlation of 99% with exhaustion from mental and physical exhaustion and procrastination from lack of planning.
Table 1: Zero correlation between the indexes of metacognitive beliefs and procrastination

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As indicated in [Table 2], most of the variables have binary mutual significant correlation with each other (P < 0.01). According to the results in [Table 2], the indexes of general and social self-esteem have a high correlation of 99% with the indexes of intentional procrastination, procrastination from physical and mental procrastination, and procrastination from lack of planning. Moreover, the index of familial self-esteem has correlation with procrastination from mental and physical procrastination. Finally, the indexes of physical self-esteem are correlated with the index of intentional procrastination at a level of 95%, and they are correlated with procrastination from exhaustion and procrastination from lack of planning at 99% of significance level. In [Table 3], the different indexes of the suitability of the designed model are presented after analysis.
Table 2: A correlation of zero among the indexes of self-esteem and procrastination indexes

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Table 3: The fit indexes of the designed model

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According to [Table 3], the value of relative Chi-square was <2. The relative Chi-square value of <2, the acceptable value of parsimonious suitability indexes including root mean square error, probability of close fit (PCLOSE), parsimony ratio, parsimonious normed fit index, and Parsimony comparative fit index, the high values of comparative suitability indexes of incremental fit index, Tucker-Lewis index, comprehensive flare index, normed fit index, and radiative forcing index, and the suitability of HOTLER index, all indicate complete suitability of the designed model. The standard residual matrices' values which are near to zero also show the suitability of the designed model. The software does not show specific modifications as well. [Table 4] shows the regression coefficients of the various paths in the designed model.
Table 4: Standard and nonstandard regression coefficients and the standard errors of the designed model

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According to [Table 4], all of the coefficients for the straight paths of the model are meaningful. The path of metacognitive beliefs to procrastination has the highest regression coefficient (β = 0.401, P < 0.0001). The information about the standard regression coefficients of the straight paths and the calculated variances of the model is shown in [Figure 1].
Figure 1: The standard coefficients of the straight paths and the variances of the designed model

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  Discussion and Conclusions Top


The results of the present study showed that there is a significant and negative correlation between the different dimensions of self-esteem (social, general, familial, and physical) and the indexes of academic procrastination. This finding is in line with the results of the study by Ellis and Knaus,[5] Solomom and Rothblum,[29] Effert and Ferrari,[4] Ferrari,[24] Flett et al.,[18] Lay,[1] Beck et al.,[30] Ferrari,[31] Ferrari,[24] and Watson.[32] Therefore, with an increase in the sense of worthlessness in the students, procrastination or shunning away from doing assignments decreases in them.

Therefore, self-esteem is one of the probable descriptors of procrastination.[17] Procrastinate people suffer from low self-esteem, and they keep it in delaying or avoiding assignments because of their weak performance and their negative results in doing the assignment.[18] The reason for procrastination among people is their fear of failure and their need for maintaining their self-esteem. In other words, procrastination is regarded as a self-scoring strategy.[19],[20] Academic procrastinate people delay their assignments for keeping their self-esteem; however, as a self-scoring strategy, they make sure that the others look at them positively.[22],[23] In many studies, a reverse and significant correlation was found between academic procrastination and self-esteem.[6],[24] It is necessary to note that when the students consider success as unlikely, they feel anxious and resort to activities such as self-disabling or procrastination because of their lack of success, which paves the ground for their failure.

Moreover, the results of the present study showed that there is a relationship between metacognitive beliefs and academic procrastination of Farhangian University students. This finding is in line with the findings of Tuckman,[26] Milgram and Tenne,[33] Pintrich and Zusho,[34] Walters,[35] Steel,[20] and Hosseini and Khayyer.[10] It should be noted that one of the variables that have causal relationship with procrastination is cognitive contrast, which is related to the people's metacognitive beliefs about their cognitive inabilities. Such beliefs somewhat result from the previous failures in finding solutions for the future problems. For example, about the belief of the person that: “I do not believe in my memory.” In other words, an individual's belief about cognitive contrast well predicts procrastination. The people who have negative beliefs about their own cognitive ability have doubt about their own abilities in starting or completing an assignment, and this has negative motivational effects for starting and maintaining assignments, finally leading to an increase in procrastination among people. This confirms the findings by Spada et al.[12]

Moreover, uncontrollability and the threat of thoughts are related to procrastination. Uncontrollability and threat of thoughts are related to the metacognitive beliefs of the individual about uncontrollability of the thoughts and also to the fact that thoughts must be controlled for good performance and immunization. This finding can be justified using the studies that show the people with high level of procrastination suffer from lack of personal control, lack of perceived individual sense of ability,[36] and low self-efficiency.[13] In other words, the beliefs about uncontrollability and the threat of thoughts can lead to further decrease in individual self-control. Consequently, it can cause an increase in the individual's anxiety in doing an assignment and his/her further procrastination in starting and maintaining the completion of the assignment.

Moreover, one of the characteristics of the people with high procrastination is their fear of failure and having unrealistic expectations.[37] In other words, the people with high procrastination get pessimistic later in their lives, especially regarding their ability to obtain desirable results.[38] Moreover, since for such people the appraisal of other people about their performance is important, the metacognitive belief of uncontrollability and the threat of thoughts make them more doubtful of their own performance, and the likelihood of negative appraisal of the others increases in them. Therefore, their procrastination in fulfilling their assignments increases.

As an explanation for the findings of the present study, it can be mentioned that the students resort to procrastination because of fear from failure, lack of discipline, lack of knowledge and skills, hating assignments, being unmotivated, dependence on the others, and inability to decide. The person possessing metacognitive skills is a purposeful person who uses time management techniques, meaningful practice, and right application of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to achieve his/her purpose in its best possible way. On the other hand, he/she is a self-motivated person who sets realistic goals and controls his/her excitements. Although a procrastinating person suffers from self-degrading, he/she is afraid of lack of success and control loss and considers postponement of his/her activities as a self-autonomy so that he/she would be able to keep his/her self-value. Therefore, a self-procrastinating person lacks self-discipline and is afraid of being evaluated by the others, but the person possessing metacognitive skills revises his/her activities and judges about him/her.

One of the limitations of the present study was the fact that the population of the study was limited to Farhangian University student in Tabriz and its results may not be safely generalized to the students of other universities.

It is suggested that the students of Farhangian University can be screened in terms of academic procrastination, and the students suffering from high levels of procrastination may undergo personal or group counseling services.

The methods for increasing self-esteem and metacognitive beliefs should be taught to the students so that they would be able to adjust their academic issues according to the mentioned strategies.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.



 
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