The Mediating Role of Flow Experiences in the Relationship between Academic Procrastination and Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

Academic procrastination is a problem characterized by individuals who try to fulfil academic activities but must perform their tasks at the required time and constantly postpone their work. Researchers have conducted numerous studies to identify the antecedents and consequences of academic procrastination. However, more research on the role of academic procrastination on well-being within the framework of flow theory is required. This study aims to determine the mediating role of flow experiences in the predictive effect of academic procrastination on well-being. This study, designed following relational research, was conducted on 818 undergraduate students. Correlation analysis and mediation analysis were applied to analyze the data. The results showed that well-being and flow experiences decreased as academic procrastination increased. Mediation analysis results confirmed that the predictive effect of academic procrastination on well-being occurred through flow experiences. The results underline that flow experiences should be considered in studies to reduce academic procrastination.

Keywords

• Academic Procrastination
• Flow Experiences
• Psychological Well-being
• Mediation Analysis

References

1. Alp, A., & Sungur, S. (2017). Investigating relationships between undergraduate students’ flow experience, academic procrastination behavior, and calculus course achievement. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 17(72), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2017.72.1
2. Arifiana, I. Y., Rahmawati, H., Hanurawan, F., & Eva, N. (2020). Stop academic procrastination during Covid 19: Academic procrastination reduces subjective well-being. KnE Social Sciences, 312-325. https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v4i15.8220
3. Ashraf, M., Malik, J. A., & Musharraf, S. (2019). Academic stress predicted by academic procrastination among young adults: Moderating role of peer influence resistance. Journal of Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, 18(01), 65-70. Available from: http://ojs.lumhs.edu.pk/index.php/jlumhs/article/view/76
4. Ay, Ş. Ç., Arslan, F. Z., Adigüzel, İ., & Çoban, K. (2019). Lise öğrencilerininakademik öz-yeterlik algısı ve akademik erteleme davranişi arasindaki ilişki. Düzce Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 9(1), 116-126. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/dusbed/issue/47156/513873
5. Aygün, N., & Topkaya, N. (2022). Akademik erteleme ve akademik mükemmeliyetçilik ile psikolojik iyi oluş arasindaki ilişkinin incelenmesi. Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, (61), 189-208. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/maeuefd/issue/68192/959606
6. Balkis, M., & Duru, E. (2022). Akademik Erteleme Ölçeği’nin kısa formunun psikometrik özelliklerinin incelenmesi. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, (54), 410-425. https://doi.org/10.9779/pauefd.952291
7. Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying teory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215. https://doi.org/10.4103/2249-4863.161306
8. Biswas-Diener, R., Vittersø, J., & Diener, E. (2010). The Danish effect: beginning to explain high well-being in Denmark. Social Indicators Research, 97, 229-246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9499-5

9. Bu, X., Wu, L., & Wang, H. (2021). Impact of college students' academic procrastination on subjective well-being. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 49(7), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.9858
10. Cengiz, S., Yağan, F., Kara, F., & Dörtyol, Z. (2023). Ergenlerde akademik beklentilere ilişkin stres, akademik motivasyon ve okul tükenmişliği arasındaki ilişkilerin incelenmesi. Mavi Atlas, 11(1), 63-75. https://doi.org/10.18795/gumusmaviatlas.1227441
11. Cerino, E. S. (2014). Relationships between academic motivation, self-efficacy, and academic procrastination. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 19(4), 156-163. https://doi.org/10.24839/2164-8204.JN19.4.156
12. Cjuno, J., Palomino-Ccasa, J., Silva-Fernandez, R. G., Soncco-Aquino, M., Lumba-Bautista, O., & Hernández, R. M. (2023). Academic procrastination, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in university students: a look during the pandemic. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry, 18(1), 11. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.18502%2Fijps.v18i1.11408
13. Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Csikszentmihalyi, I. S. (1988); “Introduction to Part IV”. In Optimal experience psychological studies of flow in consciousness. M. Csikszentmihalyi & I. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), (p. 251-265). Cambridge University Pres.
14. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1988). The flow experience and its significance for human psychology. In Optimal experience: psychological studies of flow in consciousness. M. Csikszentmihalyi, I. S. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), (p.15- 36). Cambridge University Press.
15. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding flow: The psychology of engagement with everyday life. Basic Books.
16. Çelenk, B. & Peker, A. (2020). Ergenlerde benlik saygisinin, stresle başa çikma tarzlari ile psikolojik iyi oluş arasindaki ilişkideki aracilik rolü. Avrasya Sosyal ve Ekonomi Araştırmaları Dergisi, 7(4), 147-162. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/asead/issue/54055/714168
17. Day, V., Mensink, D., & O'Sullivan, M. (2000). Patterns of academic procrastination. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 30(2), 120-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/10790195.2000.10850090
18. Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D. W., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97, 143-156. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9493-y
19. Dikmen, M., & Bahadir, F. (2021). Achievement goal orientations as a mediating variable between academic procrastination and academic achievement. International Journal of Eurasian Education and Culture, 6(13), 1028-1060. http://dx.doi.org/10.35826/ijoecc.404
20. Ferrari, J. R. (2000). Procrastination and attention: Factor analysis of attention deficit, boredomness, intelligence, self-esteem, and task delay frequencies. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 15(5), 185-196. Available from: https://www.proquest.com/openview/1d0188281572a61191bf583e112b2870/1?cbl=1819046&pq-origsite=gscholar&parentSessionId=PViB%2BLxel6N%2Ff6N5JbmxndS7bvm9OetbdihyRB1OEoA%3D
21. Fong, C. J., Zaleski, D. J., & Leach, J. K. (2015). The challenge–skill balance and antecedents of flow: A meta-analytic investigation. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(5), 425-446. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.967799
22. García-Ros, R., Pérez-González, F., Tomás, J. M., & Sancho, P. (2022). Effects of self-regulated learning and procrastination on academic stress, subjective well-being, and academic achievement in secondary education. Current Psychology, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03759-8
23. Grunschel, C., Patrzek, J., & Fries, S. (2013). Exploring reasons and consequences of academic procrastination: An interview study. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 28(3), 841–861. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-012-0143-4
24. Habelrih, E. A., & Hicks, R. E. (2015). Psychological well-being and its relationships with active and passive procrastination. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 7(3), 25-34. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijps.v7n3p25
25. Häfner, A., Oberst, V. & Stock, A. (2014). Avoiding procrastination through time management: An experimental intervention study. Educational Studies, 40(3), 352-360. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2014.899487
26. Hatefnia, F., Dortaj, F., Alipour, A., & Farrokhi, N. (2019). Effect of procrastination on psychological well being: mediating roles of flow experience, life satisfaction and positive-negative affective. Social Psychology Research, 9(33), 53-76. Available from: https://www.socialpsychology.ir/article_91536_cf9f278b21ef5fec69946346d16c13b7.pdf?lang=en
27. Hayes, A. F. (2013). Mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis. Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Publications.
28. Kandemir, M. (2016). Öğrencilerinin akademik erteleme davranıslarının, kaygı, basarısızlık korkusu, benlik saygısı ve basarı amaçları ile açıklanması. Pegem Eğitim ve Öğretim Dergisi, 2(4), 81-88. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/pegegog/issue/22587/241258
29. Keyes, C. L. M. (1998). Social well-being. Social psychology quarterly, 121-140. https://doi.org/10.2307/2787065 Krause, K., & Freund, A. M. (2016). It’s in the means: Process focus helps against procrastination in the academic context. Motivation and Emotion, 40, 422–437. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-016-9541-2
30. Lakshminarayan, N., Potdar, S., & Reddy, S. G. (2013). Relationship between procrastination and academic performance among a group of undergraduate dental students in India. Journal of Dental Education, 77(4), 524-528. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.0022-0337.2013.77.4.tb05499.x
31. Lee, E. (2005). The relationship of motivation and flow experience to academic procrastination in university students. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 166(1), 5-15. https://doi.org/10.3200/GNTP.166.1.5-15
32. Lima-Silva, L. G., Leite, M. D. F., & Faro, A. (2022). Academic procrastination and anxiety: an integrative review. Construção Psicopedagógica, 31(32), 109-123. http://dx.doi.org/10.37388/CP2021/v31n3209.
33. Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., ve Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803-855. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803
34. Madhan, B., Kumar, C. S., Naik, E. S., Panda, S., Gayathri, H., & Barik, A. K. (2012). Trait procrastination among dental students in India and its influence on academic performance. Journal of Dental Education, 76(10), 1393-1398. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.0022-0337.2012.76.10.tb05397.x
35. Magyaródi, T., Nagy, H., Soltész, P., Mózes, T., & Oláh, A. (2013). Psychometric properties of a newly established flow state questionnaire. The Journal of Happiness & Well-Being, 1(2), 85-96. Available from: https://jhwbjournal.com/uploads/files/acef39a197aeafb1b70cd2400037f869.pdf
36. Massimini, F. & Carli, M. (1988). The systematic assessment of flow in daily experience. In Optimal experience psychological studies of flow in consciousness. M. Csikszentmihalyi & I. Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.) p.266- 287. Cambridge University Press.
37. McCloskey, J. D. (2011). Finally, my thesis on academic procrastination (Publication No. 1506326) [Master’s thesis, The University of Texas] ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.
38. Mendelson, N. (2007). The functional mediation of flow between achievement anxiety, academic procrastination, and academic performance. (Publication No. AAT 3255013) [Ph.D. dissertation, Fordham University, United States] Dissertations & Theses: Full Text Database.
39. Mertens, D. M. (2015). Research and evaluation in education and psychology (4th ed.) Sage Publications.
40. Milgram, N., & Tenne, R. (2000). Personality correlates of decisional and task avoidant procrastination. European Journal of Personality, 14(2), 141-156. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0984(200003/04)14:2%3C141::AID-PER369%3E3.0.CO;2-V
41. Moneta, G. B., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). The effect of perceived challenges and skills on the quality of subjective experience. Journal of Personality, 64(2), 275-310. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00512.x
42. Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002). The concept of flow. In Snyder & Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 89–105). Oxford University Press.
43. Novak, T. P., & Hoffman, D. L. (1997). Measuring the flow experience among web users. Interval Research Corporation, 31(1), 1-35.
44. Novak, T. P., Hoffman, D. L. & Yung, Y. F. (1998). Modeling the structure of the flow experience among web users. Paper Presented at Marketing Science and the Internet Mini-Conference MIT.
45. Novembre, G., Zanon, M., & Silani, G. (2015). Empathy for social exclusion involves the sensory-discriminative component of pain: a within-subject fMRI study. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(2), 153-164. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu038
46. Ocak, G., & Boyraz, S. (2016). Examination of the relation between academic procrastination and time management skills of undergraduate students in terms of some variables. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(5), 76-84. http://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v4i5.1313
47. Özer, A. & Altun, E. (2011). Üniversite öğrencilerinin akademik erteleme nedenleri. Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 21, 45–72. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/maeuefd/issue/19394/205980
48. Özer, B. U., & Saçkes, M. (2011). Effects of academic procrastination on college students’ life satisfaction. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 12(1), 512-519. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.02.063
49. Özmen, H., & Karamustafaoğlu, O. (2019). Eğitimde araştırma yöntemleri. Pegem Akademi. Quispe-Bendezú, L. E., Araujo-Castillo, R. L., García-Tejada, J. E., García-Tejada, Y., Sprock, A. S., & Villalba-
50. Condori, K. O. (2020). Relationship between academic procrastination and attributions of achievement motivation. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 19(1), 188-205. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.1.11
51. Rakes, G. C., & Dunn, K. E. (2010). The impact of online graduate students’ motivation and selfregulation on academic procrastination. Journal of Innteractive Online Learning, 9(1), 78-93. Available from: https://www.ncolr.org/issues/jiol/v9/n1/index.html
52. Rivkin, W., Diestel, S., & Schmidt, K. H. (2018). Which daily experiences can foster well-being at work? A diary study on the interplay between flow experiences, affective commitment, and self-control demands. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23(1), 99–111. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000039
53. Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069
54. Schraw, G., Wadkins, T., & Olafson, L. (2007). Doing the things we do: A grounded theory of academic procrastination. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(1), 12-25. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-0663.99.1.12
55. Seligman, M. E. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Free Press.
56. Seo, E. H. (2011). The relationships among procrastination, flow, and academic achievement. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 39(2), 209-217. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2011.39.2.209
57. Serdar, E., Harmandar Demirel, D., & Demirel, M. (2021). The relationship between academic procrastination, academic motivation and perfectionism: A study on teacher candidates. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET, 20(4), 140-149. Available from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1313519.pdf
58. Shih, S. S. (2017). Factors related to Taiwanese adolescents' academic procrastination, time management, and perfectionism. The Journal of Educational Research, 110(4), 415-424. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2015.1108278
59. Solomon, L. J., & Rothblum, E. D. (1984). Academic procrastination: Frequency and cognitive-behavioral correlates. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31(4), 503. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-0167.31.4.503
60. Soomro, B. A., & Shah, N. (2022). Is procrastination a “friend or foe”? Building the relationship between fear of the failure and entrepreneurs’ well-being. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 14(6), 1054-1071. http://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-12-2019-0191
61. Tabachnick, B. G., Fidell, L. S., & Ullman, J. B. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (Vol. 5). Pearson. Tanrıkulu, M., & Karaca, R. (2021). Çözüm odakli psikolojik danişma yaklaşimina dayali akademik erteleme programinin lise öğrencilerinin akademik erteleme ve öznel iyi oluş düzeylerine etkisi. International Journal of Social Humanities Sciences Research, 8(65), 78-91. https://doi.org/10.26450/jshsr.2278
62. Telef, B. B. (2013). Psikolojik iyi oluş ölçeği: Türkçeye uyarlama, geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 28(28-3), 374-384. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/hunefd/issue/7791/101929
63. Tibbett, T. P., & Ferrari, J. R. (2015). The portrait of the procrastinator: Risk factors and results of an indecisive personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 82, 175-184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.03.014
64. Tse, D. C., Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2021). Living well by “flowing’well: The indirect effect of autotelic personality on well-being through flow experience. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(3), 310-321. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1716055
65. Umerenkova, A. G., de la Fuente Arias, J., & Flores, J. G. (2022). Relationship between academic procrastination, well-being, and grades: the mediational role of self-regulation and bad habits. Journal of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing, 6(2), 1247-1262. Available from: http://mail.journalppw.com/index.php/jppw/article/view/10379
66. Uz-Baş, A. (2019). Akış Yaşantıları Ölçeği’nin Türkçe’ye uyarlanması, geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. [Bildiri sunumu] I. Uluslararası Bilim, Eğitim, Sanat ve Teknoloji (UBEST) Sempozyumu, İzmir, Türkiye.
67. Vinothkumar, M., Vindya, K., & Rai, V. (2016). Moderating roles of hardiness and self-efficacy in the relationship between flow and academic procrastination on academic performance: a structural equation model approach. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 3, 77-89. https://doi.org/10.25215/0302.044
68. Vlachopanou, P., & Karagiannopoulou, E. (2022). Defense styles, academic procrastination, psychological wellbeing, and approaches to learning: A person-oriented approach. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 210(3), 186-193. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000001423
69. Yang, L., Liu, Z., Shi, S., Dong, Y., Cheng, H., & Li, T. (2022). The Mediating Role of Perceived Stress and Academic Procrastination between Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms among Chinese College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(1), 773. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010773
70. Yockey, R. D. (2016). Validation of the short form of the Academic Procrastination Scale. Psychological Reports, 118(1), 171-179. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294115626825