Examining the relationship between bedtime procrastination and personality traits in Chinese college students: the mediating role of self-regulation skills

Abstract

Objective: Personality traits are commonly used to explain individual differences in procrastinatory behavior. This study aims to examine the relationship between bedtime procrastination (BP) and personality traits, and to understand the role of self-regulation skills in this relationship. Participants: We recruited 294 college students. Methods: Data were collected through standardized questionnaires to evaluate BP, personality traits, and self-control (a main indicator of self-regulation skills). Results: Correlation analysis showed that BP was positively correlated with the psychoticism and neuroticism dimensions of Eysenck’s personality. Hierarchical regression and structural equation modeling analyses further revealed that psychoticism and neuroticism predicted BP directly and indirectly via self-control. Conclusions: BP has a significant relationship with Eysenck’s personality traits, particularly, with some dimensions that directly and indirectly predict BP through self-regulation skills. Therefore, individualized intervention strategies based on personality traits and self-regulation skills should be integrated in measures used to reduce BP behaviors among college students.

Keywords:

• Bedtime procrastination
• neuroticism
• personality
• psychoticism
• self-regulation

Acknowledgments

We thank all those who helped with the investigation and all the participants.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of China and received approval from the Ethics Committee of Liaoning Normal University.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31800924).