Impact of Social Phobia and Self-Esteem on Academic Procrastination among University Students

Abstract

Academic procrastination is intention to delay academic tasks despite awareness of potential negative consequences, is a widespread, problematic behaviour amongst higher education students. The current study investigated the impact of social phobia and self-esteem on procrastination in college students. Participants A non-probabilistic sampling of 200 undergraduate and graduate students were included in the study, through a cross-sectional quantitative study. The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Academic Procrastination Scale (APS) were used as standardized scales. The instruments exhibited excellent reliability for all of the instruments (α =. 91–. 96). In the multiple regression analysis, social phobia and self-esteem were identified as significant predictors of procrastination and accounted for 34% of the variance. Social phobia had positive association with procrastination (β =. 39, p <. 001), indicating that individuals with higher levels of social evaluation fear were more inclined to procrastinate. On the other hand, self-esteem was negatively associated with procrastination (β = −. 36, p <. 001), which suggests that those with poor self-worth were at higher risk for academic delays. Gender-specific trends also showed that perception of social anxiety, trace anxiety and self-esteem in female students were more than male students, which is in line with the earlier studies.