524 Journal of Dental Education ■ Volume 77, Number 4

Relationship Between Procrastination and Academic Performance Among a Group of Undergraduate Dental Students in IndiaNagesh Lakshminarayan, M.D.S.; Shrudha Potdar, B.D.S.; Siddana Goud Reddy, M.D.S.Abstract: Procrastination, generally defined as a voluntary, irrational delay of behavior, is a prevalent phenomenon among college students throughout the world and occurs at alarmingly high rates. For this study, a survey was conducted of 209 second-, third-, and fourth-year undergraduate dental students of Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere, India, to identify the relation-ship between their level of procrastination and academic performance. A sixteen-item questionnaire was used to assess the level of procrastination among these students. Data related to their academic performance were also collected. Spearman’s correlation coefficient test was used to assess the relationship between procrastination and academic performance. It showed a negative cor-relation of -0.63 with a significance level of p<0.01 (two-tailed test), indicating that students who showed high procrastination scores performed below average in their academics. In addition, analysis with the Mann-Whitney U test found a significant differ-ence in procrastination scores between the two gender groups (p<0.05). Hence, among the Indian undergraduate dental students evaluated in this study, it appeared that individuals with above average and average academic performance had lower scores of procrastination and vice versa.

Dr. Lakshminarayan is Professor and Head, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davan-gere, Karnataka, India; Dr. Potdar is a postgraduate student, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere, Karnataka, India; and Dr. Reddy is a Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, RKDF Dental College and Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Direct correspondence and requests for reprints to Dr. Shrudha Potdar, De-partment of Public Health Dentistry, Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere, Karnataka, India; drshrudha@gmail.com.

Keywords: procrastination, academic performance, dental students, India

Submitted for publication 12/2/11; accepted 6/7/12

The term “procrastination” has been defined as “the act of needlessly delaying tasks to the point of experiencing subjective discomfort

or putting off that which is necessary to reach some goal.”1 Procrastination is a current topic of interest across multiple fields, from finance (as people defer dealing with their financial troubles) to health care (as people delay seeing their physicians).2 Unfortunately, it also has been associated with numerous negative outcomes including neuroticism, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, aversiveness, task delay, and low self-efficacy and conscientiousness, in addition to its facets of self-control, distractability, organization, achievement motivation, and poor academic perfor-mance.3 Hence, such negative outcomes are believed to interfere with task performance. Postponing a task frequently leads to a larger task and more serious problems like stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, severe loss of personal productivity, and social disapproval for not meeting responsibilities or commitments. When these feelings are combined, they may promote further delays or procrastination. For example, when people postpone a visit to the dentist or the reading assignments for a college course, they often have more severe dental problems or an all-night cram-

ming session later on, respectively. It is regarded as normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, but such procrastination becomes problematic when it impedes normal functioning. In fact, Watkins has stated that “chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological disorder.”4

Research findings on the proportion of students who procrastinate have not been consistent.5 Ellis and Knaus6 found that the number of students who procrastinate at some point approaches 95 percent, while Solomon and Rothblum7 estimated that at least half of all students consistently and problematically procrastinate. It was also determined that procrasti-nation is related not only to higher stress and poorer coping strategies, but also to avoidance behaviors.8 Dental students are no exception because they fre-quently must balance their academic, preclinical, and clinical responsibilities simultaneously. Lack of time management can lead to procrastination of academic and clinical tasks that ultimately could impact their academic performance. With so many scheduled activities on students’ schedules, they must possess the skills needed to set goals, achieve those goals, and, in the process, avoid procrastination. According to Sujit et al., “better time management

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Group 1 included those students in the ≤33.3 percen-tile or lower range, who were considered to have low procrastination scores. Group 2 consisted of students in the 33.4 percentile to 66.6 percentile, and they were considered moderate procrastinators. Students in Group 3 were those in the ≥66.7 percentile, and they were considered to have a high procrastination score. This same methodology was employed for dividing academic performance on the previous university examination into below average (Group 1), average (Group 2), and above average (Group 3). Using these classification criteria, the assigned scores for procrastination were interpreted as follows: 16-36 for low procrastination (Group 1), 37-41 for moderate procrastination (Group 2), and 42-64 for high procrastination (Group 3). When classifying academic performance, scores of ≤60% were inter-preted as below average, scores of 61-68% equaled average, and scores of ≥69% were considered to be above average.

The students were instructed not to disclose their names in the questionnaires. Untraceable code names were assigned to the subjects throughout the study, and anonymity was maintained. All the participants were administered the questionnaire in a classroom under a normal examination situation. Interaction among the participants was minimized to prevent any distortion of the results. If difficulties in understanding any questions were encountered, the investigators explained the questions in simple terms. The completed questionnaires were collected from all the participants, and the raw data obtained were classified, tabulated, and subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS version 11.5. The chi-square test and Spearman’s rank order correlation coefficient test were used to assess the relationship between procrastination and academic performance. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to test whether the difference in procrastination scores between the two genders was statistically significant. Multinomial lo-gistic regression was applied to check the interaction effect of other variables on the relationship between procrastination and academic performance.

Results Students who were considered high procrasti-

nators performed below average in their academics, whereas low procrastinators scored average or above average in their academic performance (p<0.001, Table 1). The results of the Spearman’s correlation

skills, precludes ‘cramming’ for examinations at the last minute and can result in diminished anxiety and improved academic performance.”9 It is very important to identify such students and make them aware of the negative impact of procrastination on their academic performance.

Our study was conducted to identify the level of procrastination among a group of undergradu-ate dental students in India and its relationship to their academic performance. In addition, the study sought to determine if any gender disparity regarding procrastination existed among this population. The null hypotheses tested were as follows: 1) there is no relationship between the level of procrastination and academic performance among these undergradu-ate Indian dental students, and 2) there is no gender disparity in the level of procrastination between men and women in this study population.

Materials and Methods The study was conducted using a question-

naire designed as a cross-sectional survey. The study participants were volunteers enrolled in the second-, third-, and fourth-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (B.D.S.) curriculum of Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere, India. A total of 209 students agreed to participate, and all the participants signed a written informed consent form. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of Bapuji Dental College and Hospital.

A sixteen-question, prevalidated questionnaire was used to assess the level of procrastination.10 Data also were collected to assess the participants’ academic performance by comparison with their grades in the previous university examination. A pilot study was conducted among fifteen dental students to evaluate the questionnaire. The resulting reliability coefficient was r=0.66 at p<0.01. Cronbach’s α=0.79 and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were not found to be sig-nificant at 0.69, suggesting no significant variability.

The questionnaire was subsequently admin-istered to 209 undergraduate dental students (forty-six female and fifteen male second-year students, fifty-seven female and twenty-five male third-year students, and forty-five female and twenty-one male fourth-year students) by the investigators. Study par-ticipants ranged in age from nineteen to twenty-five years with a mean age of twenty years.

The range of procrastination scores obtained from the students was divided into three groups.

526 Journal of Dental Education ■ Volume 77, Number 4

were found to have higher procrastination scores than the female participants (27.7 percent).

A summary of the regression analysis predict-ing academic performance using metrics such as age, gender, procrastination, and year of study appears in Table 3. When above average academic performance was kept as a reference category, procrastination was significantly associated with both below average and average academic performance (p<0.001). Age was also significantly associated with average academic performance (p<0.002). However, this association was not consistent in different age groups on age stratification.

Discussion In our study, second-, third-, and fourth-year

dental students were chosen because their academic performance could be measured using university grades previously obtained. The scale used to classify

coefficient test showed negative correlation between procrastination score and academic performance with r=-0.63, with a significance level of p<0.01 (two-tailed test) indicating that students with high procrastination scores performed below average in their academics.

The coefficient of determination (r2=0.39) with significance at the p<0.01 level (two-tailed test) indicated that procrastination alone contributed to nearly 39 percent of the academic performance out-comes, suggesting the prime role of procrastination behavior in the performance of students. Numbers of students with differences in procrastination levels and academic performance across the three years of study are shown in Table 2. The relationship between academic performance and procrastination was found to be significant across all three years (p<0.001). The Mann-Whitney U test showed a significant difference in the procrastination scores between the two gender groups (p<0.05). Male participants (42.6 percent)

Table 1. Relationship between level of procrastination and academic performance, by number and percentage of total respondents

Procrastination Score

Academic Performance Low Moderate High Total

Below average 1 (1.9%) 15 (12.9%) 14 (21.5%) 30 (36.4%)Average 27 (12.9%) 26 (12.4%) 21 (10.0%) 74 (35.4%)Above average 46 (20.6%) 27 (7.2%) 32 (0.5%) 105 (28.2%)Total 74 (35.4%) 68 (32.5%) 67 (32.1%) 209 (100%)

df=4, chi-square=78.968, p<0.001

Table 2. Relationship between level of procrastination and academic performance across three years of study, by num-ber and percentage of total respondents

Procrastination Score

Academic Performance Low Moderate High Total

Second-year B.D.S Below average 0 11 (18.0%) 16 (26.2%) 27 (44.2%) df=4 Average 9 (14.7%) 6 (9.8%) 4 (6.5%) 19 (31.1%) χ2=38.2 Above average 14 (22.9%) 1 (1.6%) 0 15 (24.5%) p<0.001 Total 23 (37.7%) 18 (29.5%) 20 (32.7%) 61 (100%)

Third-year B.D.S Below average 1 (1.2%) 10 (12.1%) 3 (3.65%) 14 (17.0%) df=4 Average 12 (14.6%) 14 (17.0%) 14 (17.0%) 40 (48.7%) χ2=22.5 Above average 19 (23.1%) 8 (9.7%) 1 (1.2%) 28 (34.1%) p<0.001 Total 32 (39.0%) 32 (39.0%) 18 (21.9%) 82 (100%)

Final-year B.D.S Below average 3 (4.5%) 6 (9.0%) 26 (39.3%) 35 (53.0%) df=4 Average 6 (9.0%) 6 (9.0%) 3 (4.5%) 15 (22.7%) χ2=31.1 Above average 10 (15.1%) 6 (9.0%) 0 16 (24.2%) p<0.001 Total 19 (28.7%) 18 (27.2%) 29 (43.9%) 66 (100%)

April 2013 ■ Journal of Dental Education 527

trast, eleventh-hour intense study under pressure and at late hours may trigger insomnia, inducing higher levels of stress that may reduce one’s ability to focus on the subject matter and result in below average academic performance.

The second null hypothesis was that there would be no difference in procrastination scores be-tween male and female participants in the study. This null hypothesis also was rejected because a higher percentage of males had high procrastination scores than females. Several studies have emphasized that procrastination behavior does not vary according to gender, which is not consistent with the results of our study.17-19 However, our study population was not equally distributed between male and female participants, so the gender difference found may be due to the unequal sample sizes, which could be a limitation of this study. Consequently, additional studies with an equal distribution of men and women are needed to determine if procrastination differs between males and females.

By measuring, classifying, and evaluating the prevalence of academic procrastination, the reasons undergraduate dental students in India procrastinate may be determined, and strategies could be devel-oped to counter such negative behavior. Students could be educated in organized team efforts about efficient time management and how to improve their organizational skills in order to reduce their tendency to procrastinate. Additional studies are needed to assess the influence of personnel and environmental factors on procrastination, which is known to be multifaceted in nature. As our study was conducted among students of a single dental college, extrapolation of outcomes to a wider population demands studies encompassing a far greater number

academic performance of students as below average (≤60 percent), average (61-68 percent), and above average (≥69 percent) is applicable and relevant only in India, so it would need to be revised for the other countries depending on the local standards.

The first null hypothesis was that there was no relationship between the level of procrastination and academic performance among second-, third-, and fourth-year undergraduate dental students of Bapuji Dental College and Hospital. This hypoth-esis was rejected: a significant negative correlation was found between procrastination and academic performance among these students. These findings of a negative correlation between procrastination and academic performance are in agreement with a study conducted among university mathematics undergraduate students.11 The results of our study also are consistent with other studies that found procrastination was associated with below average academic achievement.12-14 The reason for below average academic performance among students who procrastinate might be attributed to their low level of self-esteem and self-efficacy.15 However, others have reported that procrastinators’ performance is as sound as non-procrastinators on course exams and grades.1,7,13 Although procrastination affects virtually everyone to some degree, academic procrastination among college students is omnipresent, at levels perhaps as high as 95 percent.6 One study found that the correlation between procrastination behavior and low academic achievement was higher where lessons involve a great number of assignments.16 Academic success could be attributed to skills such as organi-zation of time with execution of duties on schedule, determination of aims, prioritization of tasks, and creating a pattern of studying systematically. In con-

Table 3. Summary of regression analysis predicting academic performance from age, gender, procrastination, and year of study

Academic Performance Independent Variable p-value Odds Ratio (CI)

Below average Age 0.7 1.1 (0.7-1.6) Gender 0.3 1.7 (0.6-4.8) Procrastination 0.001* 14.3 (7.0-29.3) Year of study 0.4 1.3 (0.6-2.6)

Average Age 0.002* 0.5 (0.3-0.7) Gender 0.6 1.2 (0.5-2.9) Procrastination 0.001* 4.3 (2.3-8.1) Year of study 0.31 0.7 (0.4-1.4)

Note: The reference category (Academic Performance) is above average.

*p<0.05 is significant, CI=confidence interval

528 Journal of Dental Education ■ Volume 77, Number 4

7. Solomon LJ, Rothblum EB. Academic procrastination: frequency and cognitive behavioral correlates. J Couns Psychol 1984;31:503-9.

8. Sirois FM, Pychyl TA. Academic procrastination: cost to health and well-being. Presentation at American Psy-chological Association Convention, August 22, 2002, Chicago, IL.

9. Sujit SS, Bhosle M, Sail K. Factors that affect academic performance among pharmacy students. Am J Pharm Educ 2006;70(5):104.

10. Tuckman BW. The development and concurrent valid-ity of the procrastination scale. Educ Psychol Meas 1991;51(2):473-80.

11. Akinsola KM, Tella A. Correlates of academic procras-tination and mathematics achievement of university undergraduate students. Eurasia J Math Sci Tech Educ 2007;3(4):363-70.

12. Wesley J. Effects of ability, high school achievement, and procrastinatory behavior on college performance. Educ Psychol Meas 1994;54:404-8.

13. Beck BL, Koons SR, Migram DL. Correlates and con-sequence of behavioral procrastination: the effects of academic procrastination, self-consciousness, self-esteem, and self-handicapping. J Soc Behav Pers 2000;15:3-13.

14. Tuckman BW, Abry DA, Smith DR. Learning and motiva-tion strategies: your guide to success. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2002.

15. Tice DM, Baumeister RF. Longitudinal study of procras-tination, performance, stress, and health: the costs and benefits of dawdling. Psychol Sci 1997;18:454-8.

16. Fritzsche BA, Young BR, Hickson KC. Individual differ-ences in academic procrastination tendency and writing success. Pers Indiv Differ 2003;35:1549-57.

17. Watson DC. Procrastination and the five-factor model: a facet level analysis. Pers Indiv Differ 2001;30:149-58.

18. Hess B, Sherman MF, Goodman M. Eveningness predicts academic procrastination: the mediating role of neuroti-cism. J Soc Behav Pers 2000;15(5):61-74.

19. Effert BR, Ferrari JR. Decisional procrastination: exam-ining personality correlates. J Soc Behav Pers 1989;4: 151-61.

of dental students from several institutions across India. Furthermore, administering questionnaires on procrastination to dental students at the onset of their dental school training would facilitate identification of potential procrastinators. Given that a high level of procrastination has been found to correlate with below average academic performance, motivational programs could be introduced to assist and guide these students. Ultimately, such measures may help to improve the quality of dental education.

AcknowledgmentsThe authors wish to thank Dr. C.S. Bhagya-

jyothi for her expert assistance in our statistical analysis and all the dental students who participated in this study.

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