Reading Ability as a Predictor of Academic Procrastination Among African American Graduate Students

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between reading ability (i.e., reading comprehension and reading vocabulary) and academic procrastination among 120 African American graduate students. A canonical correlation analysis revealed statistically significant and practically significant multivariate relationships between these two reading ability variables and graduate students' levels of academic procrastination. Specifically, the first canonical correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant and practically significant multivariate relationship between reading ability and academic procrastination resulting from fear of failure. The second canonical correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant and practically significant multivariate relationship between reading ability and academic procrastination associated with writing a term paper, performing administrative tasks, attending meetings, keeping up with weekly reading assignments, and, most notably, performing academic tasks. Implications are discussed in the context of designing and implementing strategies designed to improve African American student performance and instruction in graduate-level courses.

Notes

^aOriginally, all standardized coefficients and structure coefficients pertaining to the reason for procrastination dimension were negative. These coefficients were made positive to facilitate interpretation. Therefore, positive coefficients indicate that higher reading ability scores are associated with lower levels of academic procrastination.

^bCoefficients with the effect sizes larger than .3. Data from “Some Precautions in Using Canonical Analysis,” by Z. V. Lambert and R. M. Durand, 1975, Journal of Marketing Research, 12, p. 472.

^aOriginally, all standardized coefficients and structure coefficients pertaining to the reason for procrastination dimension were negative. These coefficients were made positive to facilitate interpretation. Therefore, positive coefficients indicate that higher reading ability scores are associated with lower levels of academic procrastination.

^bCoefficients with the effect sizes larger than .3. Data from “Some Precautions in Using Canonical Analysis,” by Z. V. Lambert and R. M. Durand, 1975, Journal of Marketing Research, 12, p. 472.