Graduation Year
2016
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
W.M. Keck Science Department
Second Department
Neuroscience
Reader 1
Michael Spezio
Reader 2
Ajay Satpute
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2016 Alyssa J. C. Lew
Abstract
The prevalence of procrastination in the college environment is extremely high with estimates that 80–90% of college students procrastinate when completing academic tasks. Since it impacts the majority of college students, early identification of an individual’s personality traits and behavioral delay discounting tendencies that may contribute to academic procrastination can lead to improved productivity and overall, a better college experience. The present study reviews what is already known about the relationships between personality and delay discounting with academic procrastination. Based on the review of the current literature, this study strives to reinforce and extend what is known about the relationships between these variables, improve the methodology used to examine these relationships, and provide a possible neural basis of procrastination. The proposed study will be conducted with first-year undergraduate student participants who attend Scripps College, over three academic terms (three participant samples). The study materials consist of two self-report personality measures (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Revised NEO Personality Inventory), a delay discounting task involving choices between hypothetical monetary rewards, and two measures of academic procrastination: a self-report measure (Procrastination Assessment Scale—Students) and a behavioral measure through course assignment submission. The study predicts that the typical academic procrastinator is introverted, perceptive, neurotic, and impulsive. In addition, an academic procrastinator has tendencies toward poor self-discipline, non-conscientious behavior, and preferences for discounted future rewards. Limitations of this study and future directions are also discussed.
Recommended Citation
Lew, Alyssa J C, "Cognitive Contributions to Academic Procrastination: Investigating Individual Differences of Personality and Delayed Discounting of Rewards" (2016). Scripps Senior Theses. 806.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/806
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.