Is Procrastination a Personality Trait? Research Findings May Surprise You
Procrastination is highly prevalent in the general population as 20% of individuals identify themselves as chronic procrastinators.
A 2007 study found that “between 80 and 95 percent of college students engage in procrastination, about 75 percent consider themselves procrastinators, and close to 50% procrastinate consistently and problematically.”
This high prevalence compelled scientists to study the role of personality traits in the development and maintenance of procrastination.
Researchers studied the link between personality traits and procrastination and found that some traits are strongly associated with the tendency to procrastinate.
Some researchers even consider procrastination to be a unique trait.
So, is procrastination a personality trait? Should you blame you personality for your lack of discipline, or do other factors come into play?
What does science say about the association between personality traits and procrastination ? and what does all that mean for you?
We will answer all these questions and more.
Keep reading.
Table of Contents
What is personality?
According to the American Psychological Association, personality refers to the “enduring characteristics and behaviors that comprise a person’s unique adjustment to life, including major traits, interests, drives, values, self-concept, abilities, and emotional patterns.”
Even though different theories have different ideas about how personality forms and how it works, they all agree that personality affects behavior.
Personality traits, are reflected in people’s distinctive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
There are overall three criteria that define personality traits:
1. Consistency: a personality trait needs to be fairly consistent across different contexts.
- Example: if you are an introvert, you tend to be less talkative in most situations, whether at home or in the workplace.
2. Stability: personality traits tend to be stable across time and do not change a lot when people get older.
- Example: if you have an agreeable personality and are considered kind and sympathetic , you will usually keep those traits as you grow older.
3. Individual differences: when it comes to personality traits, people vary largely from one another.
- Example: compare your personality characteristics to those of your sibling or a co-worker, and you’ll notice key differences in how you act and react in different situations.
What are the main personality traits?
There is still some debate about this.
Different theories have suggested that there could be as few as three super-traits or as many as sixteen basic differences between people.
Currently, the most reliable and scientifically validated model to measure personality is the Big 5 Personality Traits.
The Big 5 refers to the 5 major traits that make up personality, which are:
- Openness: tend to be curious and interested in many different things. Like to learn new things and engage in a variety of experiences.
- Conscientiousness: tend to be organized, disciplined, and to plan things ahead.
- Extraversion: tend to enjoy the company of people, is talkative, and have a wide circle of friends.
- Agreeableness: tend to be kind, caring, and cooperative.
- Neuroticism: tend to worry a lot, experience mood swings, and get upset easily.
Important note
Why we won’t be using the Myers-Briggs personality model.
One of the most popular personality models on the internet is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which classifies people in the following categories: (Extroverts/Introverts, Thinkers/Feelers, Sensors/Intuitives, Judgers/ Perceiver)
This personality model is considered by the scientific community to be neither accurate nor reliable.
This is why we will not be using this model here, as we value providing you with accurate and scientifically supported information.
Personality and procrastination—the complex link
It is now widely accepted that procrastination is not the result of poor time management skills, but rather the result of maladaptive cognitive and emotional coping responses.
Think about the last time you procrastinated about completing a project. You can look back and ask yourself, “Why did I procrastinate?”
You probably didn’t want to deal with the feelings that came with doing the task, like incompetence, fear of failure, or just plain boredom.
So, as procrastination has deep cognitive and emotional roots, it has been linked to a lack of self-control, impulsiveness, and fear of failure, among other facets of one’s personality.
So, it is easy to understand how personality traits may play a role in the formation and maintenance of procrastination.
There is even a term that highlights that: “trait procrastination.”
But does it mean that you are destined to be a procrastinator your whole life?
Not so fast; it is not that simple.
Keep reading.
Trait procrastination refers to the fairly stable interindividual differences in procrastinatory behavior, which is partly influenced by people’s key personality traits.
In short, “trait procrastination” is a way to describe procrastination based on the influence of some personality traits, such as conscientiousness and impulsivity, on the tendency to put things off.
This is based on the strong and fairly consistent evidence linking procrastination to certain personality characteristics.
More on that below.
What does research say about the link between personality and procrastination?
Numerous studies have been done to assess the link between different personality traits and procrastination.
Other studies investigated the link between personality and two types of procrastination, active and passive.
We’ll also discuss some of the limitations of these studies.
1. The association between personality traits and procrastination
Scientists have found strong link between procrastination and certain personality traits, especially with conscientiousness, which is one of the “big five” personality traits.
A 2021 study investigating the relationship between academic procrastination and personality traits in 100 college students found significant and inversed relationship between procrastination and the personality trait “conscientiousness”, but no association was found with other personality traits.
In a 1995 paper, procrastination was found to be strongly associated with low conscientiousness. There was also a small association between procrastination and high neuroticism, especially regarding the two facets of neuroticism, “hesitancy” and “impulsiveness”.
A study published in the International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) concluded that conscientiousness and neuroticism were strongly associated with academic procrastination.
A study done on 400 college students at the University of Teheran revealed that procrastination was associated with low levels of consciousness, extraversion, and agreeableness and high levels of neuroticism. No relationship was found between procrastination and openness.
2. Active vs. passive procrastination:
A study done in 2009 by Choi and Moran, who looked at the link between the Big Five personality traits and active procrastination, found that active procrastination is correlated with high extraversion and low neuroticism.
Other studies confirmed these findings and found strong association between active procrastination and both extraversion and neuroticism, but found no association with conscientiousness.
They also discovered, like other studies, that passive (regular) procrastination is correlated with high neuroticism and low conscientiousness.
3. Limitations of these studies:
Some of the studies investigating personality traits and procrastination led to conflicting outcomes, and one reason might be that they failed to differentiate between active and passive procrastination. In fact, the majority of research has only evaluated procrastination from a passive standpoint.
The majority of the data presented in research on personality and procrastination was collected from university students, with some studies focusing on female students.
This is why it can be problematic to generalize these results.
Consequently, further research on a larger scale and a wider population is needed in order to generalize these findings.
4. which personality type procrastinates the most and why? (Key findings of the research)
Let’s go over each personality trait and see its relationship with procrastination.
Procrastination and conscientiousness
Strong evidence suggests that procrastination is associated with low levels of conscientiousness.
This is understandable, as conscientiousness reflects the tendency to be diligent, organized, hard-working, and goal-directed, which is regarded as the opposite of procrastination.
Procrastination and neuroticism
Studies found a link between procrastination and high levels of neuroticism (emotional instability). This link, however, is not very strong, as many studies found the relationship to be either weak or even nonexistent.
Researchers explain this link by the fact that neurotic people tend to have irrational beliefs and typically doubt their abilities and interpret events negatively. As a result, they tend to self-handicap and irrationally procrastinate.
Procrastination and agreeableness, extraversion, and openness
Finally, research on the link between procrastination, and the three other facets of personality—agreeableness, extraversion, and openness—has led to mixed and inconsistent findings.
This suggests that procrastination may be weakly or not at all connected with these three components of personality.
So, is procrastination a character trait?
Well, the answer is yes and no.
Why Yes
Because there is currently strong evidence for the link between personality traits and procrastination.
Personality traits are regarded as being fairly stable over time, which led some to the conclusion that procrastination is also a stable and long-lasting characteristic.
Besides, the personality trait “conscientiousness,” which is inversely associated with procrastination, reflects the tendency to be responsible, disciplined, and organized.
People low on conscientiousness are viewed as impulsive, undisciplined, and lazy; which is consistent with many of the characteristics of procrastinators.
For these reasons, some researchers coined the term “trait procrastination”, to emphasize the close and stable link that exists between character traits and procrastination.
Why No
There is still a lot to learn about how personality traits affect the tendency of people to procrastinate.
Research so far has found an association between personality traits and procrastination. This association does not necessarily mean that procrastination itself is a trait.
For instance, personality traits have strong influence on a wide range of behaviors, but that does not convert these behaviors into traits.
Also, some studies found conflicting evidence regarding the association between personality and procrastination, which means that there is still a long way to go before drawing final conclusions.
If we assume that procrastination is a personality trait, that would make it part of the person’s stable personality. This contradicts research and observation about the ability of procrastinators to overcome their maladaptive behaviour through various behavioral and cognitive interventions.
On the other hand, procrastination is a complex construct that is influenced not only by personality but also by environment, thinking patterns, age and occupational status.
For instance, many studies confirmed the high prevalence of procrastination among students (about 75% of students consider themselves procrastinators). These statistics confirm that factors, other than personality, may explain procrastination.
Discover Your Personality Type
It is quite easy to determine your personality type through some reliable assessments readily available online.
Of course, the five dimensions of personality exist on a continuum, and most people are somewhat in the middle.
To figure out more about yourself, I suggest you try “TraitLab,” which is a free online assessment that gives you a detailed and comprehensive assessment of different dimensions of your personality.
Verdict
Procrastination is a complex psychological and behavioral construct that is strongly influenced by certain personality traits, especially conscientiousness and neuroticism.
Procrastination should not be viewed as a unique character flaw, as many other factors, such as the environment, can exert a strong effect.
As opposed to personality traits, which are relatively stable across a person’s lifespan and do not change substantially across time, procrastination can in fact be improved and even overcome through proven strategies and techniques.
Takeaways
Personality is made up of consistent and stable traits that influence a person’s unique way of adjusting to life and their major traits, including interests, drives, values, and behavioral patterns.
The Big 5 Personality Traits model is the most reliable and scientific model for measuring personality. These traits include openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
To answer our main question: is procrastination a personality trait? Research has found procrastination to be strongly related to low conscientiousness and high neuroticism.
Mixed results were found regarding the association with the three remaining personality traits (agreeableness, extraversion and openness)
Studies have found that active procrastination, as opposed to passive (regular) procrastination, is linked to high extraversion and low neuroticism.
The term “trait procrastination” is coined by some researchers to describe the tendency to procrastinate as a character trait.
Overall, personality plays an important role in the development of procrastination, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that procrastination is a stable and long-lasting trait that you’ll be stuck with for the rest of your life.
If you like to share your thoughts/reflections/opinions, please leave a comment.
By Sam David
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