Prediction of Academic Procrastination According to Personality Characteristics, Identity Styles and Commitment

The present study aimed to investigate the role of personality characteristics, identity style and commitment in prediction of the academic procrastination among the high school students. Research method was descriptive and Correlational. Using multistage cluster-random sampling, 450 high school students (225 males, 225 females) were selected from the city of Tehran. All the participants were asked to complete the following questionnaires: Solomon and Ruth Bloom's Academic Procrastination Inventory (1984), NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and ISI Identity style Inventory (ISI; Berzonsky,1989). Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, stepwise regression analysis. Results showed a significantly positive relationship between academic procrastination with Neuroticism, Openness, and Diffuse/avoidant Style. Also, there is negatively significant relationship between academic procrastination with Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Commitment, Normative Style, and Information Style (p<0.01). The results of stepwise regression showed that the variables Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness and commitment could predict academic procrastination variable significantly(F4,445 =59/96, p<0,000). Given these findings, it can be said that rising Neuroticism, Openness among the high school students will lead into increasing the amount of academic procrastination, and also rising conscientiousness and commitment among high school students will lead into abating the amount of academic procrastination.